It’s Wednesday night, and the pressing darkness and chilly night air have driven most students to find a safe haven indoors. But Neil Reid is still outside at 5:30 in the evening.
Reid couldn’t take refuge from the wintry night because the student, along with 228 other members of the Oregon Marching Band, was diligently working to perfect his visual formation and musical performance in preparation for Festival of Bands.
Taking place Saturday at Autzen Stadium, Festival of Bands is one of the largest high school marching band competitions in the Northwest, and it will showcase performances by 23 of the best bands in the area. The competition will feature a range of music from Broadway show tunes to the theme from Veggie Tales. Reid, the OMB secretary, said the bands are divided into competing classes based on size, from bands as small as 40 members to groups as large as 260 members.
However, Saturday’s competition is not going to be as big as last year’s Festival of Bands, which had more than 30 marching bands performing. OMB Vice President Tiffany Berry said there are going to be fewer bands because of the increasing budget cuts that are being made in high school music programs. With only a limited amount of funds, high school marching bands are having to be very selective about the competitions they go to, she said.
Preliminary rounds are scheduled to begin shortly after 8:30 a.m. Reid said the 15 bands with the highest marks will compete in the finals beginning at 6 p.m. He added that bands are evaluated on two different aspects of their performance: visual drill pageantry and musical rendition.
Berry said Festival of Bands is the group’s biggest fundraiser and Saturday’s event marks their 25th year of coordinating the competition. She added that over the years, the Festival of Bands has expanded to become grander and more elaborate.
“When we first started doing this, Autzen was smaller and we only had about 10 bands competing,” Berry said.
Despite fewer bands involved in competion, Berry said about 10,000 people are expected to attend the festival. She added OMB is anticipating that Saturday’s competition will raise more than $20,000 for the group because they have more corporate sponsorships and less overhead this year.
OMB will be giving two exhibition performances at the event, one at the end of the preliminary rounds at 4:30 p.m. and one at the closing of the festival at around 10 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased the day of the competition at the southern gate of the stadium. Tickets cost $12 for adults and $8 for students and seniors, and children under five are admitted free. For more information, call the OMB office at 346-5670.
Contact the reporter at [email protected].
ONLINE ONLY: Festival of Bands hits Autzen Saturday
Daily Emerald
November 7, 2002
More to Discover