Twenty-eight high school marching bands will perform at Portage Northern High School this Saturday for the Eighth Annual Huskies Marching Invitational: 26 in competitive flights and two in exhibition performances. Gates open at 11:30 a.m., and the first band steps onto the field at 12:45 p.m. Admission runs $13 for adults, $11 for students and senior citizens, and $35 for a family package covering two adults and two children. The competition runs well into the night, with final awards beginning at 10 p.m.
Tickets, Timing and Where to Park
The event takes place at Portage Northern High School, 1000 Idaho Ave. in Portage, according to pnbands.org. Tickets are available at the gate or online in advance, though the same source notes that online purchases carry an automatic processing fee. Spectators are asked to park between the football field and baseball diamond, or south of the soccer field, per the site's event details.
The Michigan Competing Band Association sanctions competitions, hosts the State Championships, and runs clinics across Michigan. Bands are grouped into flights based on high school enrollment size, with Flight I made up of the largest schools and Flight V the smallest, according to MLive.
A Full Day of Performances
Flight III kicks things off early in the afternoon, with Gull Lake High School performing at 12:45 p.m. and Cedar Springs High School following at 12:59 p.m., according to the same MLive schedule. Holland High School takes the field at 1:13 p.m., also in Flight III.
Flight IV fills much of the early afternoon slate: Godwin Heights performs at 1:27 p.m., Sparta at 1:41 p.m., Lakeshore at 1:55 p.m., Spring Lake at 2:09 p.m., and Edwardsburg closes that flight at 2:23 p.m., per the outlet's report.
Flight V stretches from mid-afternoon into early evening, starting with Orchard View at 2:50 p.m. Buchanan follows at 3:04 p.m., Grant at 3:18 p.m., Dowagiac at 3:32 p.m., Kent City at 3:46 p.m., and Watervliet at 4 p.m. Allegan performs at 4:14 p.m., Coloma at 4:28 p.m., Newaygo at 4:42 p.m., Belding at 4:56 p.m., and Comstock Park rounds out the flight at 5:10 p.m. Awards for Flights III, IV and V begin at 5:25 p.m., the report notes.
Evening Flights and a Night to Remember
The evening brings an exhibition performance from Reeths-Puffer High School at 7:50 p.m., ahead of Flight I. Grand Ledge performs at 8:04 p.m., Grandville at 8:18 p.m., and Rockford closes out Flight I at 8:32 p.m.
Flight II follows with Lakeview at 8:46 p.m., Northview at 9 p.m., Jenison at 9:14 p.m., and Byron Center at 9:28 p.m. Awards for Flights I and II begin at 10 p.m., capping a night that stretches more than nine hours from the first downbeat.
Huskies Perform Before the Final Awards
The host Portage Northern Huskies marching band performs its own show, Nautilus, in exhibition at 9:42 p.m., before the Flight I and II awards begin at 10 p.m. A social media post from the Portage Northern band program said it was thrilled to welcome 28 bands from across Michigan to campus.
Nautilus draws inspiration from Jules Verne's novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, following the construction of the Nautilus submarine, a deep-sea exploration, and a confrontation with the mythical kraken. The musical selections include Atlantis Fanfare by James Newton Howard, the traditional sea shanty Drunken Sailor, Aquarium by Camille Saint-Saens, Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean by Hans Zimmer, and Our Planet, From Our Seas by Steven Price.
Saturday's invitational marks the final tune-up for many of these bands before the state preliminary competition, which is scheduled for the following weekend on Halloween.
