ENID, OK - Tri-State Music Festival is looking forward to hosting its annual marching contest.
15 bands will travel to Enid to participate in the contest on October 1 at 5:45 p.m. at Enid High School’s D. Bruce Selby stadium. Tickets are available to purchase at the north and south gate entrances for $5 or $20 for a family (four or more).
Participating bands are Blackwell High School, Covington-Douglas High School, Enid High School, Fairview High School, Garber High School, Hennessey High School, Kingfisher High School, Perry High School, Pioneer-Pleasant Vale High School, Ringwood Jr./Sr. High School, Seiling Jr./Sr. High School, Tonkawa High School, Watonga High School, Waukomis High School and Woodward High School.
Bands will compete for a ranking as well as comments from judges. An award ceremony will be held at the end of the evening to celebrate the rankings.
“We’re looking forward to hosting another great contest at Enid High,” said Alex Prokopis, co-executive director. “This is the largest the marching festival has been in over 14 years.”
Tri-State has been hosting a fall marching contest since 2011. The marching contest was moved to the fall to coincide with the marching band season.
“We’re excited to continue the long-honored tradition of hosting the Tri-State Music Festival here in Enid,” said Matt Johnson, co-executive director. “The Enid community has always supported this organization and we are eager to continue being a reason for people all over the state to visit our amazing town and share their love of music.”
Unfortunately, the Tri-State parade that is typically held the week before the contest was canceled this year.
“The decision to cancel the Tri-State parade was necessary due to scheduling conflicts with bands participating,” said Johnson. “With nine bands unable to participate due to the amount of marching contests scheduled that day around the state, the board and coordinators made the difficult decision to host the contest and not the parade. We sincerely hope it can resume next year with more participation.”
The schedule for the festival can be found at https://www.tristatemusicfestival.com/.
Questions about the festival can be sent to Matt Johnson or Alex Prokopis at tristateenid@gmail.com. Staff may also be contacted through the website.
Tri-State History
About eight or ten bands got together for the first Phillips Band Day in 1932. Band Day had drawn bands from Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas for the first event so it was unanimously decided to call the new event Tri-State.
In 1933 Enid had its first real Tri-State Band Festival. What began as a one day affair, as first planned, turned into a four day affair.
In 1934, Tri-State drew 6,000 band members to Enid. The town was bulging with kids. It was thought this was about the largest crowd that could be drawn, but this was outdone in the years to follow.
