International marching band competition to step off on Wesleyan campus – WV MetroNews

BUCKHANNON, W.Va. — After a year of planning, the World Association of Marching Show Bands (WAMSB) competition will step off Monday on the campus of West Virginia Wesleyan College.

The competition in Buckhannon welcomes 19 marching bands from 13 different countries.

Randy Sanders, chairman of the WAMSB 2023 Buckhannon Host Committee, said Buckhannon was selected out of a number of other locations worldwide to host the event.

“It’s a once in a lifetime experience really to see international bands performing and providing their own flare to a marching band presentation. We have bands from Sweden, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada, Honduras, El Salvador,” he said.

It will be the second time in 26 years the competition will take place in the United States and the first time on the East Coast. The only other time it was held in the U.S. was in 2017 in Palm Springs, Ca.

The 2020 and 2021 world competitions were canceled due to COVID-19. Last year’s event was held in Thailand.

Sanders said there will be a lot to see and do during their opening ceremonies Wednesday.

“We’ll be welcoming them all to the field for the very first time. We’ll have a special appearance by Granny award winner Lee Greenwood who is going to have a performance for them,” he said.

The event is known as the “Superbowl of Marching Bands.” There will be performances in the areas off jazz, symphonic, percussion, auxiliary dance and more.

There will also be a number of events taking place in downtown Buckhannon which is drawing a lot of out-of-town visitors. Buckhannon Mayor Robbie Skinner told MetroNews last week hotels in the area are booked solid, restaurants have beefed up their staffing and shops are also preparing for the rush.

Sanders said the economic impact from this competition will be huge.

“Economically it will prove to provide a boom in our tourism for the week of the event but also it puts our state on the international stage,” he said.

Funding from the City of Buckhannon and other partners have allowed for infrastructure improvements to be made at Ross Field including additional seating.

“We have ample seating now. We’ve beefed it up to a little over 2,000 seats. West Virginia Wesleyan College as well has done a lot of upgrades on their own. They installed temporary lighting for the competition should we go into the nighttime hours,” Sanders said.

In addition to marching band shows, there will also be a number of activities going on in downtown Buckhannon. There will be a car show on Main Street along with different vendors Monday night. A carnival at Jawbone Park takes place all week. A grand feature parade runs through downtown on Saturday.

The U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps will perform on Sunday from Ross Field ahead of closing ceremonies.

Sanders said tickets are reasonably priced and some events are free to the public.

“Tickets are $10 per person, some for the bigger events are $20 per person,” he said.

The event runs through next Monday, July 24.

For more information regarding the schedule and ticket pricing, visit the World Association of Marching Show Bands’ website.