The Norwich Purple Tornado Field Band rehearsing for the New York State Field Band Conference. The band will be giving an exhibition performance of their 2024 show "Seasons" at the 50th annual Fall Festival of Bands on Saturday, October 26 at Ulrich Field at the Norwich High School. (Submitted photo)

NORWICH — The Norwich High School (NHS) will be hosting the 50th annual Fall Festival of Bands on Saturday, October 26 at Ulrich Field, located at 89 Midland Drive in Norwich.

Gates open at noon, with the show beginning at 1 p.m. Tickets are $12 at the gate, or individuals can buy presale tickets for $10 by contacting NHS Band Director and Norwich Purple Tornado Field Band Director Megan Carpenter at mcarpenter@norwichcsd.org.

The event will have concessions available, as well as 50/50 raffles. Carpenter said the festival is a fun day of community gathering and support.

"It’s a really cool event. It’s great because it brings out a lot of the community to watch us perform or to help us with the day," she said. "There’s a lot of moving parts on the day, so we have a lot of community help, whether it be for parking, helping sell food at our concessions, helping sell tickets, doing 50/50 boards. So it is a big event that kind of brings out everyone in the community."

There will be six bands competing from the Copiague, Midland Park, Kingston, Division Ave, Mineola, and Roslyn Schools, with the Norwich Purple Tornado Field Band finishing the day with an exhibition performance at 2:18 p.m.