THE streets of County Durham and Darlington will reverberate with the sounds of brass as Streets of Brass makes a triumphant return for the third Brass: Durham International Festival.

The festival kicks off with this stunning free family event, which has been one of the major successes of previous festivals. Its success has even led to a series of "Streets of" events happening in Durham this summer. This year's Streets of Brass will once again see internationally-acclaimed brass acts taking to the streets of the region, giving free, open-air concerts to make sure everybody in the city has a great time.

The inaugural line-up in 2007 was a patchwork quilt of international talent that included Jaipur Kawa Brass Band from India, Caribbean, African and South American jazz band The Real Macaws and Yorkshire big band Bassa Bassa among others.

Last year, the event grew from one day to two, taking music to the streets of Durham and Darlington and kicking off the 2008 festival in style.

Acts such as Les Vilains Chilcots, Windy Business, Oompah Brass, the 10th Avenue Street Band, Beat'n'Blow and Skavalution wowed the crowds.

This year, there will once again be free acoustic performances by some of the world's best musicians on Durham's streets, bridges and squares, in a sizzling celebration of current and emerging brass music from across the world.

With every imaginable style of brass music on display, Streets of Brass will start Brass 2009 with a bang, on Saturday, July 4, and Sunday, July 5. A host of international performers will be out on the streets.

GERMANY'S Top Dog Brass are a wild ensemble who bring an intelligent, passionate and refined mix of funk and R&B. Playing straight from the heart, they blend tradition and zeitgeist into their own marching sound.

Express Brass Band, also from Germany, specialise in tunes from Maghreb and Afghanistan, as well as drawing inspiration from the work of Sun Ra, Fela Kuti and the Art of Ensemble of Chicago.

The UK's own Brass Volcanoes are a fabulous mixture of brass, saxophones and drums. The band are professional jazz musicians who create wonderful arrangements of popular and less well known tunes on the spot.

Ideas, solos and riffs are thrown around by the band, so that no two performances are ever the same.

Toni Kitanovski and Cherkezi Orchestra are Macedonia's most sophisticated gipsy brass clan.

Their repertoire ranges from melodies from gipsy traditional to original compositions as well as Charlie Mingus and Eric Satie pieces intertwined with reggae, samba, African and New Orleans' second line.

Les Gros Tube are seven musicians from all over France with an original repertoire bringing together different styles while avoiding cliches. The result is a true musical melting pot, with funk as the guiding principle.

Soznak, from Newcastle, are named after a Middle Eastern scale.

They play rhythmic dance music from all over the world. At the core, is a driving rhythm section of drums, bass, keyboards, guitar, congas and timbales, with a brass section on top, comprising trumpet, trombone and saxes. The Soznak emphasis is funk, jazz, Latin, Middle Eastern, Spanish, Caribbean and Afro-Cuban fusions.

Oompah Brass were a big hit at last year's festival and they are returning as a 2009 resident band.

Oompah started out with intention of being a traditional German oompah band, playing waltzes, polkas and marches, but they began to arrange classic pop songs with a Bavarian lilt, giving birth to "oompop".

Streets of Brass will stretch into Darlington between July 10 and 12, featuring favourites including Beat'n'Blow, Oompah Brass and El Autentico Tamborazo Zacatecano, a traditional Mexican marching band who come from a former silver mining community.

The event will visit Bishop Auckland as part of the Big Bish Bash celebrations on Saturday, July 18, when they welcome an exciting new street band named Horndogs.

Music fans should also look out for the Brass Bus, which will be touring County Durham with a band on board before returning to Durham City for fun activities for youngsters, including performances by The One and Only Wanda and Tineke Dance.

* Streets of Brass will be in Durham City on Saturday, July 4, from 10.30am and Sunday, July 5, from 11am.

* Streets of Brass will continue in Darlington town centre on Friday, July 10, with El Autentico Tamborazo Zacatecano and Byron Wallen performing at 11.30am, 12.45pm and 2.15pm.

On Saturday, July 11, the music will move to Darlington's Cornmill shopping centre for a series of 45-minute shows.

Oompah Brass will play from 10.30am, Beat'n'Blow from 11.30am, Sosnak from 12.30pm and Beat'n'Blow will return at 2.45pm.

There will also be music at Queen Street, with Sosnak playing from 11.30am and Beat'n'Blow following at 1.30pm.

In the town's Market Square, Oompah Brass will play from 11.30am, Molotow Brass Orckestar from 12.15pm and Sosnak from 2.30pm.

Molotow Brass Orckestar will play three street performances on Sunday, July 12, at 11.30am, 12.45pm and 2.15pm.

* Streets of Brass will visit Bishop Auckland on Saturday, July 18, with music in three locations around the town.

Bella Tromba will play in the Market Place from 10.30am, with 27 Club following from 12.15pm.