Past: Jackson Marching Band Festival

The 75th annual Jackson Marching Band Festival will begin with a parade through uptown Jackson at 4 p.m. with the band festival at 6 p.m. at the high school football stadium. The marching band festival started in 1945 when Jackson Band director LeRoy Mason wanted to establish a noncompetitive marching event for Southeast Missouri area bands. Jackson Band Festival has been held in Jackson the first Tuesday in October for the past 75 years. Over the years, the festival has grown to include schools from all over the southeast Missouri area. With so many schools wanting to participate, there are now two festival sights; the one at Jackson and one at Sikeston. The schools invited to participate at our local Jackson Band Festival are: Bismarck, Chaffee, Fredericktown, Kelly, Meadow Heights, Oak Ridge, Perryville, Scott City, Scott County Central, Woodland, and Jackson High School. This year to celebrate the 75th anniversary, the Southeast Missouri State University Golden Eagles will perform featuring Kevin Tague, Professor of Trumpet.