It has been announced that this year's West of England Regional Championships will be promoted and presented by Kapitol Promotions Ltd and the West of England Brass Band Association at a new venue and on a rearranged date.

The event will now be held at The Centaur at Cheltenham Racecourse on the weekend of the 2nd/3rd April. 72 bands are entered for the Championships.

Cooperation

It follows a week of intensive work and cooperation between the West of England Regional Committee and Kapitol Promotions — the organisers of the finals of the National Championships of Great Britain.

That came after it was announced that the Riviera International Centre was to be used as a Covid vaccination centre for an extended period following changes in Covid-19 Government and NHS policy.

Kapitol Promotions and West of England Brass Band Associations (WEBBA) will jointly undertake the planning and delivery of the two-day event.

The format for the Championships will remain as previously announced: Sections 4, 2 and 1 will compete on Saturday 2nd April, and Sections 3 and Championship on Sunday 3rd April.

Band secretaries will be advised of timings and contact points for further details as soon as possible.

The format for the Championships in Cheltenham will remain as previously announced: Sections 4, 2 and 1 will compete on Saturday 2nd April, and Sections 3 and Championship on Sunday 3rd April4BR

Go ahead

John Woods, Chairman of the WEBBA stated: "With the experience and influence of Kapitol Promotions Ltd., I'm thrilled to announce that the Championships will now go ahead and its qualifying bands will be represented at the this year's National Finals.

Although this short period of uncertainty about the Championships, as the country emerges slowly from the pandemic, has been frustrating for everyone involved and WEBBA's bands may have to alter their future plans, I hope that, we can now all pull together to stage this event for the competing bands and to give audiences the enjoyment of live brass band music."

He added: "Our thanks go to Kapitol Promotions for helping to find a way forward and we look forward to welcoming all West of England bands in Cheltenham. We wish them all good luck with their preparations."

Delighted

Talking to 4BR about the outcome, Philip Morris, Managing Director, of Kapitol Promotions commented: "The strength of the National Championships of Great Britain rests on its 'first-past-the-post' qualification system for the nation's bands.

Kapitol is therefore delighted to support WEBBA through these challenging times, to ensure that its Regional Championships can go ahead and that we can look forward to welcoming its qualifying bands to the 2022 National Finals later in the year.

We sincerely hope that bands and audiences support this all-important 2022 'Regional' and are looking forward to working with the WEBBA to present the Championships."