This past weekend, September 29-30, was a wild time. It was the weekend of the Collegiate Marching Band Festival.
The CMBF is a huge festival held in Allentown, PA each year at the J. Birney Crum Stadium. This festival is all about marching band. It allows band members to watch the halftime shows of other collegiate schools and is a huge recruitment opportunity for the colleges and universities involved.
This year was the 23rd annual CMBF. The colleges and universities involved, in performing order, were: East Stroudsburg, Clarion, Wilkes, Millersville, Moravian College, Boston, Kutztown, Lebanon Valley College, Shepherd, IUP, Gettysburg, Morgan State, Slippery Rock, UConn, Ship, Towson, U New Haven, WCU, UDel, and UMass.
Band members from all over participate in this event. While there you get to experience all of these bands and meet people from bands that are not your own. In my case, I see a lot of brothers I haven't met before but easily recognize by their letters. It is so much fun to meet new people who you have a lot in common with.
My Allentown weekend began on Saturday the 29th. The SUMB traveled to West Chester University for the football game. We played our entire field show, and it was the first time we implemented our props. We played and cheered the football team on in the stands.
After the game, we traveled for about 15 minutes to an area near the West Chester East High School. The entire SUMB invaded McDonald's, Wendy's, and Wawa; all 170 of us plus our roadies and staff. After dinner, we headed to West Chester East High School to perform for the high schoolers who participated in the band competition.
We performed for an enthusiastic crowd of high school students and band parents. Fun fact: high school and college football fields are different. The hash markings on the yard lines are in different places. On a high school field, they are four steps closer to the sidelines than on a college field.
After that performance, we drove about an hour to our hotel. The hotel in Allentown is in itself a good time. Everyone in the band usually doesn't go to bed until like 2 or 3 am because they're all hanging out and just relaxing before the third performance of the weekend. In the morning, we have a great buffet breakfast provided by the hotel staff, then it's time to get ready to go to the festival.
When we arrive at the stadium, I helped our roadie crew unload the trucks and set up Camp Roadie, where they hang out all day. I then went to meet one of my friends from West Chester so we could find a friend in Kutztown's band. After we got a picture I went to watch Becca perform in KU's show.
I then booked it back to the buses to get ready for our performance. We put on a wonderful performance, the best of this season so far! Allentown weekend is a long and tiresome weekend, but it is also so much fun and so worth it in the end! I can't wait to go back next year for the 24th annual CMBF with the best band in the land!
