“The show must go on!” Those are remarks made by members of the 2020 Missouri Days Marching Festival Steering Committee. “The excitement of music lives on and we are beyond excited to share the experience with all of you.”
Challenged by the recent increases in pandemic cases throughout the region, the 2020 Missouri Days Marching Festival will be held as a virtual event with schools submitting videos of their performances competing to be the big winner at this year’s marching festival.
To be a part of this year’s event, bands must be registered for the 2020 Missouri Days Virtual Marching Festival by September 30th. There is no charge to register for the 2020 festival as several generous sponsors have stepped up to make this virtual event possible. Bands will be able to submit performance videos to be judged virtually. Judges scores will then be tabulated to determine 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each class of competition based on MSHSAA guidelines. Schools will receive written comments by adjudicators and scored by a standardized rubric along with the top three in each MSHSAA class receiving plaques, just as in a traditional marching festival setting. Field show videos will be limited to 15 minutes in length, while indoor events will be allotted 10 minutes for each performance. These time constraints are the same as those used in the traditional schedule for the Missouri Days Marching Festival
Throughout the week of October 12th, videos will be released, grouped by MSHSAA class size at a predetermined time, and made public on the Missouri Days Marching Festival Facebook page. The performance schedule will be released following the September 30th registration deadline.
In addition to the judging conducted by special judges, this year’s format will also be giving an award for “Viewer’s Choice.” Committee members say that this winner will be determined by the video that receives the most “likes” on the Marching Festival Facebook page. The viewers’ choice award will be an open class division for indoor auxiliary, indoor percussion, and field show performances.
Phil Ray, speaking on behalf of the Steering Committee says “It is important to keep students involved in the performing arts through these trying times. It seems that around each corner another setback is in store for students. We care about all of our competitors and felt that while it is far from a traditional marching competition, it is important to share the dedication of the performers and educators that work so diligently year in and year out because after all, the show must go on.”
Ray said the Marching Festival Committee is disappointed that a different direction was determined this past weekend but after waiting as long as possible, we felt this new twist would still allow for a great competition and offer lots of audience participation and enjoyment.
“For now, stay tuned for festival updates and more school commitments on the Missouri Day Marching Festival website, the Midwest Marching website, or by viewing the Missouri Days Band Festival page on Facebook.”
Plans are already underway for the 2021 Missouri Days Marching Festival with big plans to make it one of the most memorable competitions in recent years.
