2022 West of England Regional Championships Cancelled

The West of England Brass Band Association has announced that the 2022 West of England Regional Championships have been cancelled. A spokesperson for WEBBA made the following statement: 

“Due to circumstances beyond our control we have been forced to make the decision to cancel this year’s West of England Regional Championships. As some of you may be aware, the Riviera Centre is currently hosting the vaccination centre for South Devon and as the original February closure date is now being extended until mid-summer, the Centre will not be available to us in March. We have maintained regular contact with the Riviera Centre management throughout 2021 to understand availability of the centre, but they themselves only became aware of the situation mid-January.

“Whilst very frustrating for our banding colleagues, WEBBA recognises the importance of the vaccination programme in keeping our communities safe during the ongoing pandemic. Since first receiving this news, the WEBBA team have extensively explored many alternative venues. However, the reality is there are limited numbers of acceptable or comparable sites and in the short time frame available to us, any venue that may have suited our event is already booked or is simply not financially viable.

“Multiple solutions were considered including the use of local schools in the Torbay area or splitting the contest itself over two separate weekends. However, after all options were fully explored, at this late stage with no acceptable resolution immediately available, the team was left with no option but to cancel. We appreciate this will be disappointing for many bands and apologise for the inconvenience caused.

“We would like to reassure everyone that WEBBA is committed to protecting the sustainability of the regional championships and will use the next few months to continue to explore other alternative avenues for March 2023. If further information required, please contact the local association WEBBA representatives in the first instance.”

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