Macon Marching Festival Preview

MACON, MO -- On Saturday, September 21st, Macon will host its first annual Macon City of Maples Marching Band Festival. The day will feature a total of seventeen bands with a parade competition, indoor drumline competition, indoor flag competition, and conclude with a field show competition.

The parade will be held in downtown Macon starting at the corner of Rollins/Daugherty Streets, going south to Rollins/Vine and then turning onto Vine for one block. Parade bands will turn left onto Rubey Street and conclude their parade just past the Maples Theater. The parade begins at 9:00 and features sixteen bands. Bands are scheduled at five minutes intervals to ensure enough space so each band may be adjudicated properly by a panel of three judges who will listen for how bands play their music, how they march down the street, and how well they execute their corner. Director of bands Jamie Baker stated, “It's going to be great to see a parade of this caliber in our downtown area. We've had so many people volunteer to help with traffic flow, parking, making the streets clear on the parade route for the bands---it takes so many people to make this happen that I want to thank everyone for their understanding and willingness to help out”.

After the parade, the action will restart at 11 a.m. in the high school gym with an indoor drumline competition consisting of 7 different schools. This event features students putting together a show where intricate marching and drumline music can often tell a story. “Our drumline show this year is a quite amazing teaching of mythology. The Hydra dragon is unleashed, cut into pieces, and then finally trapped and forced back into it's cave, all while students are playing intricate music and flying all over the gym floor in costume and character”.

The indoor flag (Auxiliary) competition begins at 1:30 in the high school gym. This event showcases eight different guard programs working up routines set to recorded music. Baker said, “This event over the years is becoming more theatrical in the ways band programs are adapting to deeper, more complex thought processes in how they manipulate equipment and the stories they convey through dance and body movement”.

The field show begins at 1:15 p.m. with twelve bands demonstrating their halftime shows for a panel of four judges. “It's always fun to be able to see what other band programs are putting together for their halftime shows,'' stated Baker. “You'll see everything from pep tunes, rock n’roll, jazz, classical, Avant guard... Some bands move a lot like we do and some only move a little. The great thing about it is that these kids are learning to work together as a team, accept constructive criticism to make their product better, all while dedicating themselves to each other and holding each other accountable. The time they spend putting together some of these competitive shows helps them learn great life skills so desperately needed in today's work place”.

The parade and indoor events are free to the public, with a $5 admission cost for the field event. Macon band boosters will have concessions and meals available to help fund this event. Mr. Baker and the band boosters want to thank the numerous businesses and individuals who have donated to the first Macon City of Maples Marching Festival. A full schedule of events is listed below:

PARADE

9:00 Exh. Macon

9:05 Class 1 Louisiana

9:10 Class 1 Leeton

9:15 Class 2 Monroe City

9:20 Class 2 Paris

9:25 Class 2 Harrisburg

9:30 Class 2 South Callaway

9:35 Class 2 South Shelby

9:40 Class 2 Salisbury

9:45 Class 2 Highland

9:50 Class 2 Pleasant Hope

9:55 Class 3 Centralia

10:00 Class 3 Southern Boone

10:05 Class 4 Marshall

10:10 Class 4 Hannibal

10:15 Class 4 Oak Grove

INDOOR DRUMLINE

11:00 Class 1 Leeton

11:08 Class 2 Paris

11:16 Class 2 Harrisburg

11:24 Class 2 South Callaway

11:32 Class 3 Southern Boone

11:40 Class 4 Oak Grove

11:48 Exh. Macon

INDOOR AUX

1:30 Class 4 Oak Grove

1:38 Class 3 Centralia

1:46 Class 3 Southern Boone
Break

2:10 Class 1 Leeton

2:18 Class 2 Pleasant Hope

2:26 Class 2 Harrisburg

2:34 Class 2 South Callaway

2:42 Exh. Macon

FIELD TIME

1:15 Class 2 Harrisburg

1:28 Class 2 South Callaway

1:41 Class 2 South Shelby

1:54 Class 2 Salisbury

2:07 Class 2 Carrollton

2:20 Class 2 HIghland
Break

3:00 Class 3 Centralia

3:14 Class 3 Southern Boone

3:28 Class 4 Marshall

3:42 Class 4 Hannibal

3:56 Class 4 Oak Grove

4:10 Exh. Macon

4:25 AWARDS