The 19th annual Festival of Bands was held Oct. 1 at the Kelly Reeves Athletic Complex.

“It gives us a glimpse of how our competition run will be and it’s extra practice for our competitions in October and November,” senior Mikaela Lopez, who plays the tuba and sousaphone, said.

All RRISD high school marching bands performed their regular marching routines, as well an exhibition piece with a middle school band. For their exhibition, McNeil performed their 2018 production Thermodynamic.

“The Festival of Bands is pretty instrumental in getting us ready for our future competitions,” Assistant Director Joshua Munoz said. “It’s the first performance where the band is the full focus.”

Band students prepared for the event by rehearsing Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after school.

“The audience is much more engaged and it adds a layer of pressure to the performance that the students might not have encountered thus far,” Munoz said.

Later in the year, the band travels around the state to local, state, and national competitions.

“I chose to be in band because working hard with my friends towards a common goal is a really good feeling, and I love music,” senior Henry Hargrave said.