The Summer Bash is an annual event organised by the Rugby Football League. An entire round of Championship matches are played in a city to showcase the sport of rugby league.[1] It has been held at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool since 2015.
The Summer Bash was introduced in 2015 after the success of the Super League Magic Weekend. It is an extra round for the Championship teams to compete in, usually a local derby. The event takes place over a single weekend in which three regular season games are played back-to-back on each day with an extra fourth game being played on the Saturday which is the final of the League 1 Cup.
The games played were, when possible, 'local derby' matches in an attempt to maximise interest in the event. The "non-heartland" sides were paired against each other. An extra match on the Saturday, was the final of the inaugural League 1 Cup between North Wales Crusaders and Swinton.
After a successful inaugural Summer Bash in Blackpool in 2015 it returned to Blackpool in 2016 with mostly local derbies being played apart from Bradford vs Leigh and Sheffield Eagles vs London Broncos not being geographical derbies and were based on league positions. Once again, the League 1 Cup final took place as the opening game to the weekend.
The event returned to Blackpool's Bloomfield Road for a third consecutive year after the previous years record attendances. The Summer Bash once again opened with the League 1 Cup final.
The event returned to Blackpool's Bloomfield Road for a fourth consecutive year after the previous years record attendances. The Summer Bash this year opened with a Women's Super League fixture.
The event returned to Blackpool's Bloomfield Road for a fifth consecutive year.
The 2020 Summer Bash was scheduled to return to Blackpool for a sixth consecutive year, however was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.
The 2021 Summer Bash was also cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Fixtures were never released.
