Nine people were treated for heat exposure Saturday at a marching band festival in Sullivan, Missouri, and two were taken to a hospital for dehydration as temperatures climbed into the high 90s under a regional heat advisory.
Emergency crews responded to the Sullivan High School marching band festival after a Level 1 medical emergency alert was issued around 5 p.m. because multiple people needed attention for heat exposure, according to FOX 2. Sullivan Fire Chief Eric Lewis told the station that nine patients were treated overall, including two who were transported to a hospital for further treatment of dehydration.
A Festival With Decades of History Hit by Extreme Heat
The event was the 39th annual Sullivan marching band festival, hosted at Sullivan High School, and brought together several high school marching bands from across Missouri and the greater St. Louis region, according to FOX 2 News. Temperatures were expected to reach the high 90s Saturday, with heat indices climbing into the triple digits, while a heat advisory remained in effect through Sunday for much of the St. Louis region.
The conditions led at least two schools to change their plans. Bourbon High School's band left the festival early because of the heat, while Union High School canceled the rest of Saturday's event, the station reported.
What heat-safety guidance recommends
According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, marching-band participants can spend hours practicing outdoors, often without the same rehearsal-time limitations imposed on football teams. The NFHS recommends gradual heat acclimatization, regular hydration and monitoring environmental conditions with tools such as wet-bulb globe temperature devices for outdoor activities, including marching band, according to its heat-illness prevention guidance.
Warnings About Hydration Came Before the Heat Hit
Ahead of festival season, organizers behind the event had flagged the risk of hot weather. A listing for the gathering from Red Regiment, which placed the Sullivan Marching Festival 2026 at Sullivan High School's 1073 E. Vine St. address, advised bands to prepare in advance, stating, “If it is going to be hot, make sure to start hydrating early in the week.”
The full extent of the heat exposure and any possible heat-related illnesses among the nine patients was not clear from the station's report. FOX 2 said it had reached out to the Sullivan School District for comment, but the district had not responded.
