The 2013 Lancer Joust is a high school field marching competition. On Sept. 14 in Roselle, Ill., the festival will bring together 25 marching bands for a full day of exciting performances. Most of the bands are from Illinois, but one comes from Nebraska and another from Wisconsin.
Our coverage of the 35th annual Lancer Joust at Lake Park High School’s West Campus, which takes place on Saturday, Sept. 14, can be found here. Right now, 25 bands are scheduled to perform, beginning at 10:45 a.m., including the marching unit from Downers Grove South High School, whose uniforms are pictured below. Their show this year features the music of Dave Brubeck and Stan Kenton and is entitled “Artistry in Time.” They’ll perform this show at 3:30 sharp, provided the weather cooperates.
Downers Grove South uniforms at the Joust in Sept 2012 (Spiffy0777/Flickr)
The Lancer Joust Marching Band Competition will not only celebrate Downers Grove South and other great performances in the early marching band season, but it will also give Lake Park High School a chance to show off its new turf field.
Bands will be placed into classes determined by the number of performers, not by school enrollment, which is common at other Bands of America contests and school-level festivals. The Lancer Marching Band will conclude the morning and afternoon performances with their own exhibition performance at 5:15, and then the top 10 bands, regardless of class, return at 7:15 for the finals competition.
Even though the contest is split between prelims and finals, one ticket will get you into the whole day—35 marching band performances spanning about 12 hours.
Coverage on Illinois Marching Online can be found here, and Dan Balash does a thorough job on that site with coverage for the events.
Last year’s festival was also well covered by a reporter and photographer from the Daily Herald. Unfortunately, many of the photos and the two stories will be blocked by the pay-wall at the Daily Herald by now, so my advice is to check the website shortly after the event.