Norwich High School Purple Tornado Field Band members grades 6 through 12 will compete against eight other bands at 12:40 p.m. on Saturday, October 28, at the Norwich high school stadium. Championship will be held at 10:28 a.m. on Sunday, October 29. (Photo by Rick Lindner)

NORWICH – Norwich High School hosts its 47th Fall Festival of Bands on Saturday, October 28, at 12:40 p.m. located at the high school stadium.

The Norwich Purple Tornado Field Band will present "X Marks the Spot," and will compete against eight other marching bands. The New York State Field Band Conference Championship will be held from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sunday, October 29 at the stadium and the Purple Tornados will perform at 10:28 a.m.

Norwich High School Marching Band Director Megan Carpenter said, "Every Band gets specifically thirteen minutes to get on, perform and get off. The only way we can stay on schedule is to be spot on with the times. Admission pre-sale cost is $10 a ticket and can be purchased at Norwich High School and $12 on the day of the show."

Carpenter said this is her seventh year as director and their group of band students are from 6 to 12 grades, playing instruments that include woodwind, brass, percussion; both on and off the field, and also they have a color guard that spins flags and rifles to add visual  concept to the show.

She said the show is about a group of pirates that have found a treasure map and are searching out the treasure. They'll provide different musical pieces and one of the songs will be "Hoist the Colors" from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. The band members will be wearing pirate uniforms and they even have a boat prop that one of the staff members and family built. 

Carpenter explained rehearsals started in mid July every Tuesday and Thursday through the month of October with one week of band camp in the summer where the students came in Monday through Friday and worked from 1 to 9 p.m. They  learned drill, which consists of learning different spots; formations on the field, and learned how to get to each of their spots and how to make the formation.

She said the kids learned a lot during rehearsal and became better musicians and performers just by the sheer amount they played their instruments. They also learned a lot about leadership and listening to instruction. Many of the students in the marching band are friends with each other and this also provided a social activity for them to enjoy."

"The band performs a few different times throughout the year and a lot of the members in the community are Norwich alumni and have been through the band program or have had friends and family in the program," she added. "I know it means so much to them to see the  marching band out there doing the things they used to love  to do.”