On Saturday, October 7, the North Polk marching band will perform morning and evening shows for the annual Valleyfest during its 44th year.
Valleyfest is hosted by Des Moines Valley High School in their stadium in order to showcase and reward marching bands across the state of Iowa. The marching bands perform and have the chance to win awards at the ends of both morning and evening performances.
Marching band conductor Brandon Weeks stated that the band has been performing at Valleyfest since at least the ‘90s. He expressed that he is “excited to compete this weekend [as] our students have been working SUPER hard in rehearsal.” Furthermore, he said that the band had made good progress throughout the week leading up to the event.
Weeks then exclaimed “I always tell the students, you can’t control how other bands play or how the judges judge; you can only control how you play, so go do your best and have fun!”
Weeks communicated that throughout the year the band has not only worked hard for their hopeful accomplishments in competitions, but also in keeping a positive atmosphere. Weeks described the band as a “family” being able to connect with each other regardless of others backgrounds.
For their schedule regarding Valleyfest, marching band member Aidan Trier regarded that the day would be a busy one. The students will meet early in the high school before being transported to Valley Stadium and performing their first show at 10:30 a.m. after 10 other bands. At 3:00 p.m., awards will be presented to the bands and there will be a break period before afternoon performances. The band will go to Jordan Creek Mall and have, as marching band members describe it, “nap time.” In the evening the band will head back to Valley Stadium and perform for “Showdown” at 6:45 p.m. after other performances and wait until the second set of awards at 11:00 p.m.
Trier expressed that though he’s done the contest and others with the band before, “there’s always some nerves competing.”
Throughout the course of the year, Valleyfest is only one out of seven or eight competitions the marching band performs in. Weeks expressed that the best way to support the marching band is to show up and watch the performances, expressing that “the more [people], the better!”
