News
40th Annual Athens Invitational Marching Festival Set for Oct. 11
By: Sarah Hawley | Athens Messenger staff reporter
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A dozen high school marching bands from around the region will compete in the 40th annual Athens Invitational Marching Festival at Athens High School on Oct. 11.
For the past 40 years, the Kiwanis Club of Downtown Athens, the Chauncey-Dover Lions Club, and the Athens Band Boosters have sponsored the event.
In addition to the host school — Athens High School — bands from as far away as Sarahsville and Byesville in Ohio and Ellenboro, West Virginia, will compete for the awards which include best music, best general effect, best percussion and best auxiliary.
Bands are classified in Class AA, A, B, or C based on their school enrollment. There is a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place band awarded for each class. There is also an award for best percussion and best auxiliary in Classes AA, A, B, and C.
In addition, an award given for the Grand Champion Band. All bands receive a rating in a 5-rating system from the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA). A I is Superior, A II is Excellent, A III is Good, A IV is Fair, and A V is Poor. Bands are judged in the areas of music, percussion, general effect, visual effect, visual performance and auxiliary. The 5-rating system is used in each of these areas to combine the overall rating. Bands that receive an overall Superior (I) rating are eligible to participate in in OMEA State Marching Band Finals in November.
Schools participating include Athens, Southern (Racine), Fort Frye (Beverly), Hilliard Darby (Hilliard), Lexington (Lexington), Logan Elm (Circleville), Meadowbrook (Byesville), Minford (Minford), Ritchie County (Ellenboro, W.Va.), Shenandoah (Sarahsville), Symmes Valley (Willow Wood) and Franklin Heights (Columbus).
A schedule of events is as follows:
9:45 a.m. — National Anthem and Flag Raising
10 a.m. — Fort Frye Marching Cadets, Class C
10:15 a.m. — Southern High School Marching Band, Class C
10:30 a.m. — Shenandoah Zeps Marching Band, Class C
10:45 a.m. — Symmes Valley Marching Vikings. Class C
11:15 a.m. — Marching Rebels of Ritchie County, Class B
11:30 a.m. — Meadowbrook Colts Marching Band, Class B
11:45 a.m. — Logan Elm High School Marching Band of Pride, Class B
Noon — Minford High School Marching Band, Class B
12:45 p.m. — Lexington Band of Gold, Class A
1 p.m. — Hilliard Darby High School Marching Band, Class AA
1:15 p.m. — Franklin Heights Golden Falcon Marching Band, Class AA
1:30 p.m. Athens High School Marching Green and Gold, Class A
2 p.m. — Awards