The RBHS Emerald Regiment held its second annual marching band festival Saturday, Sept. 29 from 8:45 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.. Timberland High School placed first in the competition, followed closely by last year’s winner, Hickman High School.
This year, the number of high school bands participating in the event increased to 16 bands, four more than the numbers that attended during the first band festival in 2022. The bands consist of all class sizes, ranging from 2A (the smallest) to 5A (the largest), and performed in roughly ten-minute increments. All schools began in the preliminary rounds, and the top 12 scoring bands moved onto finals.
Students in the RBHS band are required to help run the event and pre-assigned tasks to manage throughout the day. Senior flutist Erica Mallott was tasked with holding an exit sign to guide guests in and out of the stands. Mallott said there were more tasks this year due to the increase in participating bands.
“When hosting, you have to be working the entire time,” Mallott said. “There’s people out on the stadium who block [access] off when necessary, help the judges with scores, guide the visiting bands [through the campus], clean up the campus and more. It’s so different [from competing], where you ride the bus, warm up, play your show [and] then relax.”
Leslie Mallott, Erica Mallot’s mother and Band Booster parent (volunteers that help with the RBHS band), contributed to the festival planning process for both years. Leslie Mallot said the festival coordinators and band members learned a lot from the first festival, which made the event run more smoothly.
“For the most part, we just built on last year,” Leslie Mallott said. “As soon as [the band festival] was over [last year], we knew some of the [food] vendors that were really successful […] and knew to prepare paper score sheets in advance with better signage for different areas. We also finally have t-shirts [for the RBHS volunteers]. At least this time, we kind of knew what to expect.”
Sophomore Kenlee Oglesby, a pit member of the Harrisburg High School band, said the dedication of the RBHS band members created a welcoming atmosphere for the participating bands and left positive impressions of the school. Oglesby said she would like to come back to the festival in the following years.
“This is my first time attending this festival, and it’s really good,” Oglesby said. “The [RBHS] people handed us water the entire time and guided us through the entire process. This was our first festival of the year, and I think we did really well for our first performance.”
The night ended with an exhibition from the Emerald Regiment, performing their 2023 show, “Seasons of Joy,” for the other bands and parents. This was followed by the announcement of the final awards.
“I think hosting [the festival] is important [for the students],” Leslie Mallott said. “So when [the Emerald Regiment] does go [to other band festivals], [students] know to have patience with parent and student volunteers working concessions for the first time. It gives [students] a better frame of reference for how much it takes to pull something like this [off].”
Did you attend the marching band festival this year? Let us know in the comments below.
