VIKINGLAND band festival
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f you love a parade – and who doesn’t – make sure you find your way to Alexandria Sunday, June 27 at 1:30 p.m. for the 37th annual Vikingland Band Festival’s Parade Marching Championship. If all goes well, the 2021 event will be back on track after a hiatus in 2020. The festival committee has three optional formats arranged for this year to cover all circumstances and will refine the plan closer to the festival. This two-day event culminates in the parade that features the elite among marching bands from the Midwest and will be highlighted by the Chops Drum & Bugle Corps serving as the honor unit and the returning Grand Champion Henry Sibley. Also competing in Sunday’s parade will be seven-time People’s Choice award winners, the Mankato Lancers and Waconia. This year, festival-style ratings will be used rather than scores and placements, and band currently holding class or grand champion flags from 2019 will have the chance to defend those titles in 2022. There will be no formal awards ceremony this year; rather, ratings will be announced via social media and media outlets. Last year’s event was held as a virtual showcase, with bands submitting videos, photos and tributes to their senors. DID YOU KNOW? Although Alexandria is the only band to appear in every Vikingland Band Festival, many bands have a long history performing in the festival.
Including 2020 appearances, these bands have appeared at least 15 times: Alexandria (36), Fergus Falls (33), Waconia (32), Henry Sibley (31), Mankato Lancers (31), Winona Cotter (31), Bertha-Hewitt (31), Long Prairie (27), Park Center (27), St. Cloud AllCity (24), Sauk Rapids (22), Litchfield (22), Albany (19), Osseo (18), Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (17), New York Mills (17), Champlin Park (16), Sartell (16) and Albert Lea (16).
2021 VIKINGLAND BAND FESTIVAL ENTRANTS
(As of May 18) The 2021 festival features another great lineup of marching bands. Congratulations to the resilient students and directors who have emerged from the pandemic and are able to return to the street after missing an entire season last year! • Alexandria - Host • Chops Drum & Bugle Corps - Honor Unit • Albany • Bemidji • Champlin Park • Dassel-Cokato • Fergus Falls • Henry Sibley • Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg • Mankato 77 Lancers • Milaca • Richfield • Sauk Rapids-Rice • Waconia • Winona Cotter • 728 Cadets For more up-to-date information, visit marching.com/events/vbf/ closer to the event.
12 June/July 2021 • Vacationer
