51 bands, 14 hours of competition
/ Photojournalist Andrew Perdue
The statistics, and the logistics, are staggering:
>51 high school marching bands (smallest, 30 members, largest 190), 6 categories of competition
>5,000+ band members, from schools in NY, New Jersey and Pennsylvania
>22 judges
>10,000 in the audience
>14 hours of competition
The 37th annual Field Band Championship Show (30th year at the Carrier Dome) is for bragging rights, for the best music, choreography and execution. There are also 'guest performances' by the Syracuse University and University at Buffalo marching bands.
We showed you some of the competition live, during Weekend Today in Central New York, this morning.
It is open to the public to watch (tickets: Adults $15, Students $5, Preschool $2). Because of the buses and cars moving to and from the Dome during the day, be advised that traffic and parking can be as challenging as on an SU game day.
The competition ends about 9:30pm, with the SU Marching Band performing while scores are tallied.
Results will be posted on the Field Band Conference website.
