This year is the 72nd Algona Band Day, one of the two oldest band festivals in the state of Iowa. Band Day will be held on Saturday, October 2nd, 2021. There will be a parade at 1:00pm in Algona, Iowa, on State Street, followed by a field show at Algona High School, at Bulldog Stadium.
Starting off the field show will be the national anthem at 5:35 pm, then class 1A through 3A bands will be performing. For class 1A, Woodbury Central and Bishop Garrigan will perform. In class 2A, Cherokee Washington, Garner-Hayfield-Ventura, and Lake Mills High School all will be playing before intermission. After a 15 minute intermission, Ballard, Sheldon, Clear Lake, Humboldt, Estherville Lincoln Central, Le Mars, Forrest City, then lastly Algona High School, all 3A, will all be competing in the field show.
The Tri-State Judges for this event will be: Lane Powell from Harmony, Minnesota; Doug Krejci, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Steve Lyons, from Champlin, Minnesota; Todd Blaser, from Alexandria, Minnesota; Jesse Miller, from Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and lastly, Rhonda Blaser, from Alexandra, Minnesota.
With Algona’s first Band Day held in the fall of 1948, Band Day is the second oldest band festival in northern Iowa. The festival has always had a parade and, until 1989, a queen competition. The field show is the most recent addition to this popular festival. The field show is now in its 39th year.
With the Algona Band Festival held one week prior to the Iowa High School Music Association State Marching Festival, Algona Band Day provides an important and useful contest for the participating bands.
AHS band director, Nick Libel, said, “I think it is such a great way for the community to come together to support students from all over the state and from other states. I am excited to experience it for the first time, as this is my first year serving as chairman!”