The Great Bend High School Panther Pride Marching Band, under the direction of Mark DeWald, will host the Western Athletic Conference Marching Festival on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at Memorial Stadium. Tickets are $3.
“If this isn’t the first time ever, it certainly has been a long time since Great Bend has hosted the festival,” DeWald said.
The event will feature marching bands from all five WAC schools. Hays High School will take the field at 6 p.m., followed by GBHS at 6:15, Liberal High School at 6:30, Garden City High School at 6:45 and Dodge City High School at 7.
Drum lines from each school will return to the field at 7:15 p.m. to perform a cadence while the judges tally the scores. Awards will be presented at 7:30 p.m.
“It’s a good chance to see some really good marching bands,” DeWald said. “It should be a great evening of entertainment.”

I ratings
Great Bend High School’s marching band has earned high marks at recent appearances.
Tonight, GBHS will host the Western Athletic Conference Marching Festival at Memorial Stadium.
DeWald notes that GBHS attended the Winfield Marching Festival on Oct. 11 and received five “I” ratings for a solid first place finish. Areas of judging were: General Effect, Music Performance, Visual Performance, Performance, Color Guard and Drum Major.
“We received all “I’s” at the Kansas State Fair, also,” DeWald said.