The Pride of West Virginia is marching its way into Charlestonthis month for a special performance at the Daily Mail Kanawha CountyMajorette and Band Festival.
West Virginia University's 325-member marching band will make anappearance at the 57th annual event, where the county's eight highschool bands compete for top honors in music, twirling, flag corpsand several other categories.
"It's always good to get back to the capital city," said JohnHendricks, marching band director for WVU's award-winning group. "Wehave a great fan base in that area. We like to perform for them."
The band will take the field during the Sept. 23 festival'sintermission and will play for about half an hour, including some ofits more popular arrangements of "Simple Gifts" and "Country Roads."
This marks the full band's first trip to Charleston since 2001,when it performed at the Charleston Sternwheel Regatta Festival.
Festival officials are hoping the band's appearance will bring newcrowds and followers to the event, which once packed Laidley Field.
Area bands have been getting smaller, and so have the crowds, saidAl Frey, who has directed the festival for several years.
"We hope the people who come to see the WVU band will like whatthey see so much, they'll keep coming back to our festival," he said.
Daily Mail Editor Nanya Friend said festival organizers werethrilled when WVU officials asked if the band could appear at theevent.
"We hope lots of people come out to see them and the eightoutstanding Kanawha County high school bands," Friend said. "Thestudents work very hard to get ready for this festival, and it's avery special night for them. I hope the WVU band's presence will bean inspiration for them."
The high school bands perform their signature routines during thefirst half of the event and finish the night with originalityroutines, complete with skits and props.
Schools are judged in 11 different areas: majorette corps, featuretwirler, originality, band marching, band playing, general effect,flag corps, percussion, field commander, band champion and MissKanawha Majorette.
West Virginia University hopes to use the event as a recruitingtool, showing off its skills to attract local students to the band.Currently, 23 members of the marching band are from Kanawha County.
"Wherever we perform, we find that we have a lot more students thenext year from that area," Hendricks said. "It's a win-win situationfor everyone."
West Virginia University's marching band is more than 100 yearsold and has played all over the country, where it has won numerousawards. Its most prestigious recognition came in 1997 when it waspresented with the John Philip Sousa Foundation's "Sudler Trophy,"which honors the nation's most outstanding collegiate marching band.
Tickets to the festival are $6 in advance and can be purchased atthe participating high schools and at Gorby's Music in SouthCharleston and Kerr's Music World in Charleston. Tickets can bepurchased for $7 on the day of the festival at Laidley Field.
All proceeds from the festival support school music programs. Theevent starts at 6:30 p.m.
Writer Carrie Smith can be reached at 348-7918 or by e-mail atcsmith@dailymail.com.
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