Kansas State University

MANHATTAN — The Central States Marching Festival is coming to Kansas State University's Bill Snyder Family Stadium for it's 28th annual celebration on Saturday, Oct. 18.

With more than 40 high schools this year and around 5,000 performing band students, the festival gives further support that it has become the premier marching band affair in the region, said Frank Tracz, professor and director of bands at Kansas State University. The event is sponsored and aided by the university's marching band, the Pride of Wildcat Land.

"The Central States Marching Festival is the single strongest and most effective recruitment strategy for the K-State Marching Band we have," said Tracz, who directs the band. "It's a specific audience of band kids right in our backyard who get to experience the K-State treatment."

Clinics for the bands will begin at 8 a.m. Each high school band will take the field and perform in front of a panel of a panel of field performance experts. Bands then go to nearby Bramlage Coliseum and are given immediate feedback while watching a video of their performance.

Judges for field performance are Larry Blocher, director of the School of Music at Troy University; Phillip Payne, assistant professor of music education at Kansas State University; Jim Oliver, a music educator from Kansas City; Dave McKee, marching band director at Virginia Tech; Debra Traficante, associate director of bands at Kennesaw State University; Daniel Haddad, percussion arranger/instructor with the Kansas State University Marching Band; and Sydney Topliff, color guard coordinator with the Kansas State University Marching Band.

Performances at Bill Snyder Family Stadium will begin at 10:15 a.m. and will end at 9:30 p.m. with the Kansas State University Marching performing its "Beatles Invasion" show, which includes several Beatles' medleys. The Boston Brass also will make a guest appearance, performing at 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Admission into Bill Snyder Family Stadium will be $5 for both students and the general public.

Schools participating in the Central States Marching Festival include:

Arkansas City High School, Arkansas City; Augusta High School, Augusta; Basehor-Linwood High School, Basehor; Republic County High School, Belleville; Bonner Springs High School, Bonner Springs; Clay Center High School, Clay Center; Derby High School, Derby; De Soto High School, De Soto; Dodge City High School, Dodge City; Emporia High School, Emporia; Eudora High School, Eudora; Garden City High School, Garden City; Eisenhower High School and Goddard High School, Goddard; Holton High School, Holton; Hutchinson High School, Hutchinson; Independence High School, Independence; Junction City High School, Junction City; Lansing High School, Lansing; Lawrence Free State High School, Lawrence; Leavenworth High School, Leavenworth; Liberal High School, Liberal; Louisburg High School, Louisburg; Maize High School, Maize; Marysville High School, Marysville; McPherson High School, McPherson; Olathe Northwest High School, Olathe; Blue Valley North High School, Blue Valley Northwest High School, Shawnee Mission West High School and St. Thomas Aquinas, all from Overland Park; Shawnee Mission East High School, Prairie Village; Rose Hill High School, Rose Hill; Salina South High School, Salina; Shawnee Heights High School, Tecumseh; Seaman High School and Washburn Rural High School, both from Topeka; Wamego High School, Wamego; and Bishop Carroll High School, Maize South High School and Wichita North High School, all from Wichita.

For more information and band performance times, go to http://www.k-state.edu/band/festivals/csmf.html.