Lights, music, marching! One of the most exciting and uplifting nights of the marching band season is coming up Saturday, Oct. 14, when Parkside High School and the Parkside Band Boosters present the 2017 Delmarvacade of Bands at Wicomico County Stadium.

High school marching bands from throughout the region will fill Wicomico County Stadium that night with the sights and sounds of their field shows as bands tune up for championship events. (Makeup day is Oct. 15, if needed due to weather.)

Between bands, parents, and spectators, the Delmarvacade of Bands is expected to draw several thousand people to the stadium. Bands will compete starting at 5:00 p.m., with each band performing the kind of field show people are accustomed to seeing at halftime of football games. Each performance will last seven to 12 minutes, and a new band will take the field about every 15 minutes.

The event is sponsored by Parkside High School and its Band Boosters. It will be adjudicated by professional judges of the National Judges Association. Bands will be judged on every aspect of their field show, including both musical and visual elements, individual and group elements, as well as the overall general effect of the show. Each band will receive a score based on a 100-point scale, and a trophy. There will be an awards ceremony at the end of the night.

Bands will compete in four categories, depending on the number of instrumentalists in the band. Parkside High and Bennett are in Group 3 Open Class, and Wicomico is in Group 3 A Class. Parkside, as host, will perform in exhibition.

Marching bands often stay all evening, even after they have competed. Bands know they are competing not just against each other, but against their own previous performances. Every band will be trying to make this field show just a little bit better than its last.

Admission to Delmarvacade of Bands is $8. A program detailing the participants, with a score sheet to keep track of how the bands are doing, is $5.

A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Women Supporting Women of Salisbury. For information please contact Parkside High Marching Band at 410-677-5161.