Australian National Online Festival of Bands
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 made 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 from 2nd to 5th April, with the NBCA encouraging eligible bands from around the world to participate in the event.
In an open letter, Barrie Gott, President of the National Band Council of Australia, and Jeff Markham, President of the Band Association of NSW explained the decision.“The 2020 Nationals had to be cancelled some four weeks before they were due to start because of the Covid19 pandemic. This late cancellation caused parties involved in the event to incur considerable financial losses.The current state of play across the country and fluid regulatory environments including border closures may continue for some time. The social distancing, cleaning and hygiene requirements and uncertainty about the limits on the numbers of people able to attend an in-venue event are not known at this stage. The preparations of bands planning to compete in the 2021 Nationals will be disrupted to varying degrees with bands from Victoria unlikely to be in a position to rehearse at all before the end of 2020.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.
“However, the NBCA and all State Associations recognise many bands across Australia and internationally would value the opportunity to participate in an alternative national band event over Easter 2021. The ANOFOB has therefore been developed to provide an alternative event to fill Easter with good band music. The 2021 ANOFOB 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. This festival will provide an opportunity for bands to submit for adjudication video recordings of them playing a sacred item, single own choice major work, on stage march or own choice concert item (or any combination of these four items). These performances will be replayed over the Easter weekend.
“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.To provide all bands with the flexibility to maximise their opportunity for participation, the festival will operate under streamlined rules within a format that loosely mirrors the formal structure of the National Band Championships. We look forward to seeing all bands participate in whatever capacity and events they are able to as we work our way through these difficult times.”
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