The National Band Council of Australia (NBCA) has announced the cancellation of the 2021 National Championships which were due to be held in Newcastle, New South Wales in Easter next year.

The decision was taken by the NBCA in conjunction with the Band Association of NSW in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Instead, an inaugural Australian National Online Festival of Bands (ANOFOB) will be run in its place, with the NBCA encouraging eligible bands from around the world to participate in the event.

Opportunity

In an open letter, Barrie Gott, President of the National Band Council of Australia, and Jeff Markham, President of the Band Association of NSW wrote that they hoped the decision would provide bands "with the flexibility to maximise their opportunity for participation".

It was also stated that the festival that "will operate under streamlined rules within a format that loosely mirrors the formal structure of the National Band Championships."

Difficult times

They added that they looked forward "to seeing all bands participate in whatever capacity and events they are able to as we work our way through these difficult times."

The announcement stated that consideration had been taken that the 2020 Nationals had to be cancelled some four weeks before they were due to start because of the Covid19 pandemic, and that the decision had "caused parties involved in the event to incur considerable financial losses."

They also pointed out that the current situation across the country with "fluid regulatory environments including border closures"may continue for some time, whilst "social distancing, cleaning and hygiene requirements and uncertainty about the limits on the numbers of people able to attend an in-venue event"were not known at this stage.

Disruption

It was also noted that the preparations of bands planning to compete in the 2021 Nationals will continue to be disrupted to varying degrees, with bands from Victoria unlikely to be in a position to rehearse at all before the end of 2020.

The event was due to return to Newcastle for the first time since 2003.

"These difficulties combined with the varying access to recording capabilities for bands across the country make it impossible to run a National Band Championships including the Solo and Party Championships in any other format for 2021,"they said.

The Australian National Online Festival of Bands (ANOFOB) has therefore been developed to provide an alternative event to fill Easter with good band musicBarrie Gott & Jeff Markham

International response

In response to the cancellation of the event for a second successive year — and for the first time since the end of the Second World War — steps had now been taken by the NBCA and all State Associations to host an on-line event to enable bands from across the country, as well as internationally, to compete.

They added: "The Australian National Online Festival of Bands (ANOFOB) has therefore been developed to provide an alternative event to fill Easter with good band music.

The 2021 festival will be run as a joint venture between the NBCA and the BANSW. Other arrangements for an alternative event for the Solo and Party Championships are currently being explored."

Submissions

They pointed out that the festival would provide "an opportunity for bands to submit for adjudication, video recordings of them playing a sacred item, single own choice major work, or stage march or own choice concert item (or any combination of these four items)."

It is envisaged that the performances will be replayed over the Easter weekend.

They concluded: "The festival is all about participation, providing bands with purpose for rehearsals through these times as we attempt to return to our usual high standards, making great music together rather than fierce competition for trophies and titles."