Regional schools compete in 2024 Festival of Bands

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - Marching bands gathered in Sioux Falls on Saturday for the 37th annual Festival of Bands .

The parade and field competitions brought in some of the best middle and high school marching bands from all over the region.

The event was hosted by Sioux Falls' four public high schools as well as Bishop O'Gorman High School.

The four schools didn't compete in the competitions, but they still enjoyed performing their shows to a home crowd.

"I love being able to show our show to all of these people that might not see it usually, because most of our competitions are out of state or out of the city. So being able to showcase our show to people who won't usually see our show is really cool and fun," said Washington High School senior Rosalia Szameit.

Over 40 bands performed on Saturday with more than 4,000 students. The festival draws around 20,000 visitors from South Dakota and surrounding states.