The European Brass Band Association (EBBA) and the local Swedish organisers in Malmö have announced the cancellation of the 2021 European Brass Band Championships, due to the ongoing concerns over the current Covid-19 pandemic.

The decision encompasses all connected events that were scheduled to take place during the festival in May next year.

Priority

EBBA President, Ulf Rosenberg stated: "We are very sorry that the European Championships cannot go ahead next year as planned. The local organisers and the competing band will have to make financial commitments in the next months in order to host the event or to compete in the EBBC.

This will be difficult given the current restrictions put in place to limit the spread of the pandemic and their impact on travel and cultural and public events across the world."

He added: "It is also important to underline that our first priority always is the health and safety of both the brass band and wider communities.

EBBA appreciates the restrictions imposed by the different governments to combat the pandemic. However, they put the European brass band movement and wider cultural life 'on hold' for the time being."

Great dedication

Ulf Rosenberg continued: "We were impressed by the preparations made by the local organisers in Malmö.

They worked hard and with great dedication over recent years to present the Championships in Sweden for the first time. The 2021 EBBC would have been a high-quality event, and we hope that we will soon be in a position to enable Europe's finest brass bands to compete in Malmö for the first time."

It is also important to underline that our first priority always is the health and safety of both the brass band and wider communitiesEBBA President, Ulf Rosenberg

Web alternative

It was confirmed by the EBBA President that EBBA will explore the possibility of developing and hosting a web-based European event for the actual weekend (7th/8th May) in 2021 with partners.

Bo Winborg on behalf of the organising body Brassmusik Skåne, added: "The EBBC 2021 organising team regrets this situation, but fully support the joint decision made by the local organiser and EBBA to cancel the event next year.

We had been seeking to organise EBBC for the first time in Sweden by mobilizing a strong and enthusiastic team, and we were so much looking forward to gather the European brass band family in our beautiful city and excellent venue Malmö Live.

We hope that we can now reschedule the event to a later year."