Ten high school marching bands from Tennessee, Georgia and Kentucky — including six from the Chattanooga area — will gather Saturday afternoon at Finley Stadium for a new competition.
The DeMoulin Challenge, sponsored by the U.S. Scholastic Band Association, also will feature a festival performance by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga marching band.
Jonathan Swengler, a band relations manager for the USSBA, said the bands will be doing “essentially the performances of their halftime shows. … It’s a great chance to highlight their musical abilities and show their different concepts, themes and performances.”
Starting at 1 p.m., each band gets 15 minutes to perform. Following a showcase by the UTC band at 4 p.m., judges will offer preliminary awards and critiques. Then the bands will compete in finals before awards are presented at 9 p.m.
The USSBA is a nonprofit organization spearheaded by Youth Education in the Arts, based in Allentown, Pa. The USSBA Southern States Championships will return to Chattanooga on Nov. 6.
Tickets to Saturday’s event are $18. Finley Stadium is at 1826 Carter St. For more information, visit www.yea.org.
SCHEDULE
* 12:55 p.m. National anthem
* 1 p.m. Boyd-Buchanan
* 1:15 p.m. Central
* 1:30 p.m. Hixson
* 1:45 p.m. Chattahoochee (Georgia)
* 2 p.m. Signal Mountain
* 2:30 p.m. Cleveland
* 2:45 p.m. Mount Juliet (Tennessee)
* 3 p.m. George Rogers Clark (Kentucky)
* 3:15 p.m. Independence (Tennessee)
* 3:30 p.m. Soddy-Daisy
* 4 p.m. UTC
* 4:15 p.m. Awards/critique
* 6:15-8:30 p.m. Finalist bands perform (15-minute intervals)
* 9 p.m. Awards
Source: www.yea.org