Merced band review to draw competitors from across the state

Dozens of marching bands will descend on Golden Valley High School on Saturday for the Central California Band Review, which draws scholastic bands from Porterville to the Bay Area.

Golden Valley’s Cardinal Regime band expects to host 39 California schools during the 55th edition of the review starting at 9 a.m. at the campus, 2121 E. Childs Ave.

Michael Vasquez Jr., the director of bands for the school, said he expects 5,000 to 7,000 people at the event.

He called the annual competition a “time-honored tradition.” The review began as an annual Veterans Day parade and over time became the competition it is today, he said.

“It’s really a long-standing, important event, not just for our community but for the communities around the Central Valley,” he said.

The jazz bands from schools around the state begin competitions at 9 a.m., and the marching bands begin a competitive parade at 9:30 a.m. Competitions for junior high and high school bands will continue through about 8 p.m.

Parsons and Childs avenues will be the venue for many of the contests.

Vasquez said bands compete primarily in circuits, and judges will decide the winners. Bands are separated into classes by the number of students in the ensemble.

There are 180 students in the Cardinal Regime, he said, and the band has earned a stellar reputation with more than 900 awards in its roughly two decades of existence.

The event is also a fundraiser for the band. Food and concessions will be sold on site.

The Golden Valley High School Band Boosters hold fundraisers year-round for the Cardinal Regime, according to Jamie Hawks, the director of fundraising. She said the band has an annual budget of about $99,000 for uniforms, travel, instrument repair and competition entry fees.

She said the Merced Union High School District contributes about $15,000 to the band, so the boosters help to make up the difference.

Hawks noted the review offers a variety of spectacles – jazz, marching band, a field show and a drum line. She said the show draws spectators of all kinds.

“It is a great opportunity to see students doing something that is definitely positive,” she said.

This story was originally published November 6, 2014 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Merced band review to draw competitors from across the state."