The Norwegian Music Federation (Norges Musikkorps Forbund) has announced that it will host the 2023 European Brass Band Championships in Stavanger.
Twitter announcement
Although no official announcement has been made as yet by the European Brass Band Association, the NMF shared the news through their feed @NMFkorps today.
"It is now official" they said. "EBBC 2023 will be arranged in Stavanger in Norway. We're looking forward to host the Championships for the European Brass Bands!"
Sealed date
The news also appears to have sealed one of the outstanding dates that had yet to be formally accepted by EBBA from interested parties in hosting the Championship from 2020 to 2024.
With the 2019 event being held in Montreux, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2024 remain to be confirmed, although 4BR understands that constructive negotiations are still ongoing with Palanga over 2020, with interest from Malmo and Innsbruck for 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Wales has also reopened an expression of interest in hosting the event in 2024.
Stavanger had long expressed the desire to host the European Championships for a second time, following a highly successful event held there in 20084BR
Second time
Stavanger had long expressed the desire to host the European Championships for a second time, following a highly successful event held there in 2008.
It is understood that the 2023 event will be based at the impressive Stavanger Konserthus, built in 2012 and which can seat 1,500 people in its main Fartein Valen auditorium. There is also a second multi-purpose hall that can also used to host major events.
In the past few years the venue has been used to host the Siddis Entertainment Championships. An announcement was being made at a special cultural event in Stavanger this evening.