Marching band festival set for Oct. 19

The Hoover High School marching band will host its 2019 Hoover Invitational Marching Festival on Oct. 19 at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.

The event is expected to draw 16 to 20 high school bands from Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, Hoover High band director Ryan Fitchpatrick said. It also will include exhibitions by Troy University’s The Sound of the South and Hoover High’s 190-member competition band.

Admission is $10 for adults and children, and parking is free.

Last year’s event netted about $10,000 for the band, with proceeds used to purchase some furnishings for the new band room and buy new instruments.

“Our band gets bigger and bigger every year,” said Teresa Lee, chairwoman of the marching festival. As the band continues to grow, the boosters have to purchase more of the larger instruments provided by the school, such as tubas and drums, Lee said. “It costs a lot.”

Boosters also help provide money for music and buses to transport the band to football games and competitions. Hoover’s marching band has 350 students in it, including the color guard and dance line, Fitchpatrick said.

The exact start time for the marching festival won’t be determined until band registration ends, but the event usually begins around lunchtime and ends at 8:30 or 9 p.m., Fitchpatrick said.

Judges this year include: Curtis Burttram, a band director who recently retired from Jasper High School; Pat Stegall, a music education teacher at the University of North Alabama; Hal Murphy, a retired band director from Southside High School in Gadsden; Mike Anderson, a marching band drill writer and visual designer for high schools and drum corps; and Grey Snyder, a music education specialist for Nashville City Schools.

This article was edited on Sept. 27 to change the cost of admission to $10.