Tri-State Band Festival is canceled

Instead of multiple marching band performances, this year’s Tri-State Band Festival will feature one band with limited in-person attendance.
Committee members announced last week that the 70th annual Tri-State Band Festival planned for the last Saturday in September will instead take place Sept. 25, 2021.
“The Tri-State committee made this difficult decision to ensure the safety and health of band students, directors and marching band fans,” stated the festival’s social media page. “We hope to see you for the 70th … bigger and better than ever in 2021!”
Jane Wildung-Lanphere with the Luverne Area Chamber and a member of the festival committee said discussions began months ago. Band registrations were halted in June to work on putting safety protocols into place to lessen the spread of the coronavirus.
“We found we couldn’t have anyone from the public attend in order to maintain the highest level of safety,” Lanphere said.
While the parade could have been canceled, the committee couldn’t develop safety protocols for the field competition at the Luverne school campus.
Many of the school’s classrooms are used each year as staging areas for about two dozen bands from Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota, but this year the classroom use was prohibited and social distancing was impossible due to the large number of students.
“Even if we had the event, it’s not the same without the crowds so we decided to postpone it to 2021,” Lanphere said.
 
Special event planned for Luverne band
Only one band, the Luverne Cardinal Marching Band, will take the field Sept. 26 as part of a clinic put on by the band festival committee.
“Our goal is to make it a really special experience,” Lanphere said.
The experience, however, will cost between $7,000 and $8,000 for the three clinicians and other materials, including specially designed souvenir facemasks.
Beginning at 9 a.m., the 50-member band will separate into three smaller groups — percussion, auxiliary and wind/horns — before coming together at 2 p.m. for a field performance to end the event.
To limit public admittance, a ticket is necessary to attend the performance.
Donors to the event would receive a limited number of tickets and students will also receive tickets family members to attend.
For more information or to make a donation, contact the Luverne Area Chamber at 507-283-4061.