by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
The Sauk Rapids-Rice Marching Band will be in distinguished company June 26 when it marches down Broadway in Alexandria as part of the prestigious 32nd annual Vikingland Band Festival.
The festival will begin at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, June 26 on Alexandria’s main street, Broadway.
Among the parade participants will be 20 high-school bands from throughout Minnesota, as well as three renowned show bands from Canada and a champion drum-and-bugle corps.
The event will feature more than 2,000 performers for the biggest lineup since 1999.
This will be the 18th appearance in Vikingland by the Sauk Rapids-Rice band, which has won numerous Vikingland performance awards as Class AA Champion and for its color guards, wind and percussion sections. It’s one of only 10 bands to have “retired” a Class Champion flag by winning that title three years in a row.
The Vikingland Band Festival is known as Minnesota’s largest and most-prestigious summer marching-band competition.
“This lineup is unlike anything we’ve had in recent memory, and the parade is going to be a treat for spectators,” said festival co-founder Ken Martinson. “The Calgary Stampede Showband won world championship titles in Japan in 2013 and Brazil in 2014. We are thrilled families in central Minnesota will get to experience this world-class group.”
Another highlight will be the Minnesota Brass Drum-and-Bugle Corps, which has earned the gold or silver medal at the all-age drum corps championships six of the last eight years.
The full lineup of 24 marching units includes the Calgary Stampede Showband (Calgary, Alberta, Canada), Calgary Stetson Show Band, Calgary Round-Up Band and high-school bands from Sartell, Alexandria, Albany, Champlin Park, Dassel-Cokato, Fergus Falls, Henry Sibley, Hutchinson, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, Mankato, Maple Lake, Milaca, New York Mills, Richfield, Solar Sound of St. Cloud, St. Michael-Albertville, Waconia, Winona Cotter and the 728 Cadets.
For the best parade viewing, spectators should gather in the four zones along the parade route where every marching band is certain to perform. These locations are on Broadway near 6th, 8th, 11th and 14th avenues. Admission along the parade route is free of charge. Convenient bleacher seating is available for purchase through the Vikingland Band Festival’s website.
This year’s festival is a two-day event, as the Vikingland Band Festival will also present the Minnesota Drum Corps Premiere at Alexandria Area High School at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 25.
The field exhibition will feature all three of Minnesota’s all-age drum-and-bugle corps in their season debut, along with complete field-show performances by the three guest bands from Calgary. Discounted advance tickets are available through the festival website.
For more information about the parade and field show, visit VikinglandBandFestival.com.
The Calgary Stampedes, a widely renowned marching band, will perform at the Vikingland Band Festival in Alexandria.
The brass section of the Sauk Rapids-Rice Storm Marching Band blasts a tune while on parade. The band will participate Sunday, June 26 in the Vikingland Band Festival in Alexandria, a festival at which it was three times Class AA Champion in previous years.
