Sing2025 Tickets Update

Following on from an amazing Sing2024 50th Anniversary Convention in Harrogate, our thoughts now turn to next year’s Sing2025 convention in Bournemouth!

As you may already know, we are thrilled to have both The Ambassadors Of Harmony and Vocal Spectrum as our guests at Sing2025, and our Early Bird ticket sales showed just how excited you all are too!

The subject of competitor tickets and full event ticketing for an event like convention has been widely discussed over the last few years, and the BABS Board has been looking at costs and options for 2025 and beyond. For Sing2025 we are proposing the following:

• All competitors in all contests will require a Full Weekend ticket to compete. This brings BABS in line with LABBS, IABS, BIBA, SNOBS, BHS, BinG and Holland Harmony who also require competitors to have a Full Weekend ticket to compete in their conventions.
• We have been able to maintain the price of a Full Weekend ticket at the same cost as for Sing2024 through detailed mitigation of the rising costs of supplier and venue procurement. This makes the BABS convention incredibly competitive in terms of value for money and one of the best “cost per chord” events in barbershop!
• Session passes and day tickets will still be available for audience members and non competitors, and we are looking at the costs for this to make it as affordable as possible for family and friends to come and support our groups, watch our shows, and take part in our convention in a variety of ways. Session passes will only be available to purchase at the event from the registration desk.
• Youth, Junior and Parent/Guardian with under 5 full weekend tickets will still be available.

We hope members will understand the reasons behind these proposals, as we continue to evolve, modify and improve our conventions, education and events. Bringing BABS into line with other organisations whilst minimising costs and maximising value for money is an ongoing process and we welcome any thoughts and ideas that members may have around this.

75.1% of all tickets purchased for Sing2024 were full weekend tickets meaning that most attendees chose to come for the whole event. The quality of the shows, the huge contests, varied educational sessions, Sing With The Champs, BABS Hub, and numerous other offerings during this year's convention were part of what made the event such a great experience. We will provide a full set of feedback analytics following our debrief at the Budget and Planning meeting this July.

This decision has not been taken lightly by the Board. We recognise the challenges this may cause and will continue to work to mitigate those via our pricing strategies. The increasing cost of running events in general is the main driver for this decision. We need to react and plan accordingly to ensure that we are still hosting successful, engaging and vibrant conventions in 50 years’ time, and this change is designed to simplify tickets and to bring us into line with other associations' conventions. We know that this may create a higher barrier to entry for some members and are always looking for feedback and suggestions as to how we can reduce this.

We look forward to seeing you at our future events and to another 50 years of harmony. Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm, which help make BABS so special. Here’s to many more memorable moments together!

Yours in harmony,

Simon Lubkowski
BABS Director of Events