ROANOKE, Va. – The goal is to highlight music education.
The Star City put on quite a show Saturday afternoon, as William Fleming and Patrick Henry High Schools hosted the Star City Classic.
The event is a marching band competition for high school bands across the state.
Over the course of the day, they hosted 18 different bands.
Not only is it a competition, but also a fundraiser for the Roanoke City marching bands.
Organizers say it’s a great way to help keep music education thriving in the Valley while giving students the chance to showcase their performances and get feedback from judges.
“It’s the most important thing, what else is the band director going to say, right? There is no other high school experience that teaches them what this teaches them, and on top of that, it’s a ton of fun too. Marching band is everything,” Band teacher at Patrick Henry, Alex Schmitt said.
Later in the day, high school students also got to see a special exhibition performance from the Emory and Henry marching band.