Swiss National Championships Cancelled
It has been announced that the 2020 Swiss National Brass Band Championship has been cancelled owing to ongoing concerns and restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the first time since 1982, when the contest became an annual event, that they have been cancelled. The decision was not taken lightly by the Swiss Brass Band Association (ASBB), but with over 60 bands with hundreds of performers, as well as a huge number of supporters and brass band enthusiasts due to listen to performances in its Stravinski and Miles Davis auditoriums in November placed huge difficulties in meeting guidelines and regulations on matters such as contact tracing and audience flow within the convention centre complex.
ASBB stated, "Such constraints do not correspond in any way to the spirit of meeting and performing at such an important event for the Swiss brass band movement. The Montreux CSBB Committee, Music Commission and Organising Committee also reviewed other scenarios, but felt that the instability of the health policy situation and the very high levels of organisation that resulted from it, made it impossible. Trying to undertake the event in November would also have posed a significant financial risk to the ASBB and the participants. In addition, despite the implementation of all precautionary and protective measures, the risk of infection during competition would have remained very real. The quarantine obligations would have been the responsibility of the organisers. We hope to take advantage of this particular situation to explore new ways and experiment with new forms of competition.”
The ASBB is currently working on organising a National Solo and Quartet Competition, using a different format for 2021.
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