25th Annual Heart of America Marching Band Festival

LAWRENCE – The University of Kansas School of Music, Northeast Kansas Music Educators Association and Meyer Music are proud to host 23 high school bands Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016 in their annual Heart of America Marching Festival. Participating bands for this year’s festival will travel from throughout Kansas and Missouri. Five adjudicators with expertise in marching, music and visual elements will evaluate each band’s performance. 

 “Many schools plan their marching seasons around Heart of America. It provides their students with a great opportunity to see what other programs are doing, put forth their best efforts to compete, and return to their high schools recharged and ready to build excitement on their home fields,” said Matthew Smith, director of the KU Marching Jayhawks. “We hope that the high school students see us at the festival and decide to join the Marching Jayhawks on the field someday at Memorial Stadium.”

The first performance begins at 2 p.m. at KU Memorial Stadium. The festival will end with an 8:30 p.m. performance by the Marching Jayhawks, who will perform a portion of their Space Show, the Oct. 8 halftime performance that received national attention on social media this month. Admission is $10 per adult, $5 for students and senior citizens; and free for those five and younger. In addition to the great music and performances, there will be concessions and vendors available for food and souvenirs.

The competition schedule is as follows:

For more information, contact the KU School of Music at 785-864-3436 or visit www.music.ku.edu.