Douglas County High School is hosting two big band performances over the next few weeks, showcasing the talent and spirit of top marching bands from the area.
The Douglas County Marching Band Expo will take place Monday, Sept. 23 at 6:30 p.m. and will feature all five high school bands from the county.
The Expo kicks off the fall marching band competition season by bringing the bands from Alexander, Chapel Hill, Douglas County, Lithia Springs and New Manchester together to debut their shows.
On Saturday, Oct. 5, Douglas County High School's highly anticipated marching band competition, "The Gathering," returns for its fourth year.
Torre Goodson, Director of Bands at DCHS, said “The Gathering” has grown from nine competing
bands and 400 spectators in its first year to 15 competing high school bands, two university bands in exhibition and 1,500 projected spectators this year.
“The competition is a tremendous opportunity for the student musicians of DCHS, the competing musicians, and the community,” Goodson said. “While the event does raise funds for the band program, it is an opportunity for Douglas County High School band students to display organizational skills, teamwork, and hospitality in a real-world context. The competing musicians get an opportunity to display their talents and the fruits of their hard work in front of spectators made up of their peers, community members, and supporters. On top of that, the community is provided with an event with a family friendly atmosphere and another facet of musical culture in the City of Douglasville.”
Evelyn Ortega, Coordinator of “The Gathering,” added that the competition is a way to bring the entire community together to support students. She noted that funds raised help the DCHS band to pay for costs to travel to competitions, as well as expenses for repairing instruments, cleaning uniforms and even pre-game meals.
She added that events like “The Gathering” “open our kids to a greater vision of the world around them” and noted that they are “part of the event: They help plan, they act as guides and hosts to visiting bands, they are leaders to their fellow bandmates working to make the event run smoothly.”
“The main lesson that always comes to light from ‘The Gathering’ is that we can all work together to create exciting opportunities for our children,” Ortega said. “We are so grateful to the Douglas County community for always rallying around us.”
For more information about the band events and to purchase tickets, visit: https://linktr.ee/dchstigerbands
