2024 Festival Details
37th Annual Festival of Bands to Be Held Saturday, October 5
Sioux Falls will strike up the bands Saturday, October 5, 2024 as host of the 37th Annual Festival of Bands, USA — one of the nation’s largest marching band events. Considered one of the premier band festivals in the Midwest, this year’s Festival of Bands will feature over 40 bands with more than 4,000 students participating in parade and/or field competition. This event draws as many as 20,000 visitors from South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa to Sioux Falls for a full day of marching activities. Hosted by the Sioux Falls High School bands, all net proceeds from this great event are equally distributed to the five band departments.
At the Parade and Preliminary Field events, bands compete in four classes for ratings and rankings, with nationally recognized judges offering evaluation and commentary to the competitors. At the evening Finals, the 10 highest scoring bands compete in one class with trophies going to the top five places. The event line-up and schedule of participating bands can be found at festivalofbands.com.
Parade Competition
The Parade competition kicks off the big day at 8:30 a.m. with 25 bands stepping off. The 2024 Festival of Bands parade will be held adjacent to Covell Lake, one of the city of Sioux Falls’ most scenic areas showcasing the Japanese Gardens at Terrace Park and close in proximity to the field competition at Howard Wood Field. The Parade will start on W. Madison St and turn onto N. Lake Avenue neighboring the baseball fields. The Parade judging platform will be located on N. Lake Avenue behind the Boy Scouts Headquarters. The parade will end at the corner of N. Lake Avenue and West Avenue.
Field Competition
The Preliminary Field competition will begin at 10:00 a.m. at Howard Wood Field, with over 20 bands competing to advance to the Finals competition that evening at 6:45 p.m. Gates will open at 9:00 a.m. A free live stream of the Field Competition — both Preliminary and Finals — will be available at festivalofbands.com.
Sioux Falls Jefferson, O’Gorman, Roosevelt and Washington High Schools will be performing in Field Exhibition during the event Finals. Sioux Falls Lincoln will be performing in Field Exhibition during the end of the preliminary competition.
In addition, we are pleased to be joined by the Pride of the Dakotas marching band from South Dakota State University. The Pride will perform both at the parade and before the first round of awards during the preliminary competition.
Festival of Bands, USA is dedicated to providing a safe and healthy event for all participants and therefore has announced this will be a smoke-free event.
Admission
Admission to the parade is free. Admission to the Field competitions is by wristband only. Admission fees are $15 for adults, $5 for students, and children age 5 and under are free. On the day of the Festival, wristbands can be purchased from volunteers at the Parade and Howard Wood Field. Programs will also be available for purchase onsite for $5. Credit cards are accepted at the gate of Howard Wood Field.
Sponsors
We wish to thank our sponsors for their support in making the 37th Annual Festival of Bands possible:
GOLD SPONSORS: Lewis Drug, Popplers Music Inc. and Ryan Tysdal-Vanbuskirk Companies
SILVER SPONSORS: Horner Barrow Orthodontics
BRONZE SPONSORS: The Dakota Scout, Groove Inc, Hyvee Foods, Northern State University, Scheels, Schmitt Music, Sioux Falls Ford, South Dakota State University, and the University of Sioux Falls
About Festival of Bands, USA
Festival of Bands is an exciting day hosted each year by five local high school bands who also perform in Field and Parade Exhibition: Washington, Roosevelt, O’Gorman, Lincoln, and Jefferson High Schools from Sioux Falls, SD. The organization is dedicated to providing opportunities to its student participants for musical growth through adjudication and association with other quality marching organizations. Supported by over 400 parent volunteers, the Festival of Bands Committee spends more than half a year putting together the elements which make Festival of Bands a success. For more information, visit festivalofbands.com and follow Festival of Bands USA on Facebook and Instagram!
