FMBC State Championships
It’s the final weekend of Competitive Marching Band of the year! Only a few circuits are left competing, and each is located in a warm weather state. In the Sunshine State, The Florida Marching Band Championships are taking place on Saturday, Nov. 18th, and Sunday, Nov. 19th, at multiple locations in Broward County, FL. 1A, 4A, and 5A take place on Saturday, with 2A, 3A, and the Traditional/Show Band competitions taking place on Sunday. Let’s dive in.
This has historically been one of my favorite shows on the calendar. For quite a few years, Finals were held at Tropicana Field, in St. Petersburg, though over the last few years it has rotated around, spending 2019 at Daytona Stadium in Daytona Beach, 2021 at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, and this year, it will be at Broward County Stadium in Lauderhill, FL. Lauderhill is down towards Miami for any who are unfamiliar with Florida geography. Broward County Stadium is a very unique facility, as it is only one of two accredited Cricket stadiums in the United States. The Prelims venues include Broward County Stadium as well as the football stadiums for Coral Springs H.S. and Flanagan H.S.
Competition starts off Saturday with 4A Prelims at Broward County Stadium, where the first band to perform will be Pembroke Pines Charter (FL) at 9:00 AM. Out of the 11 4A groups, 5 will advance to finals. Immediately following the last 4A performance, the four bands in 5A will perform, mostly for performance order as all will be advancing to the evening’s finals competition. Names familiar to the casual observer in 5A will include two programs that attended last week’s BOA Grand National Championships in Stoneman Douglas (FL) and Windermere (FL), though, over the two classes there are many excellent programs, including Oakleaf (FL), West Broward (FL), and Newsome (FL).
Happening simultaneously with 4A/5A Prelims will be 1A Prelims at Flanagan H.S., and this division is stacked. There are more bands in this class alone attending Championships than 4A and 5A combined, and some of the programs to keep your eye on include Calvary Christian (FL), Barron Collier (FL), and Santaluces (FL).
After Prelims wraps up, the Finals competition gets underway around 4:30 PM at Broward County Stadium, with gates opening at 3:45. 4A and 5A make up the first block, followed by a dinner break, and then the night wraps up with 8 bands from 1A performing before an exhibition performance from Florida International University and the evening’s retreat.
Sunday starts off at 9 again, with 2A performing at Coral Springs H.S. and Duncan U. Fletcher (FL) kicking things off. One of the names you may recognize from this class is P.K. Yonge (FL), winners of Class A at the BOA Orlando Regional last month. Performing at the end of the 2A Prelims competition will be Palm Beach Lakes Community (FL), the only Traditional/Show Style band competing this year. 6 of these groups as well as Palm Beach Lakes Community will be advancing to the evening’s finals competition.
At Broward County Stadium, the 3A competition will take place at the same time. There are many recognizable names among the 19 bands that will be attending 3A prelims, including but not limited to Park Vista (FL), Flanagan (FL), and Seminole (FL), making this event a real toss up. 9 of these programs will advance to Finals.
Finals are scheduled to take place at Broward County Stadium, with 3A performing starting at 5:30 pm, a dinner break, and then Traditional/Show Band and 2A, with the evening’s exhibition being Florida Memorial University. However, there is a possibility that this event will be moved inside due to forecasted rain.
With over 60 of the state’s best programs in attendance, this will be one fantastic show, and we will be featuring live on-site coverage throughout the event. If you cannot be there in person but need one last fix of marching band before the lull between the Fall season and Indoor starting up, Box5 will be live streaming these events at http://box5tv.com. If you can be there in person, all information can be found at https://fmbcstate.com/championships/!
Matthew Carstensen is currently GEM’s Managing Editor. He has been involved in the Pageantry Arts for over a decade, as a performer at the highest level, an instructor, and a fan. You can find him on Twitter at @SatNightLites. He currently lives in Florida with his partner and their two dogs.