Alert: Colorado Marching Band Season Has Been Canceled

Perhaps we should have seen this coming.

The fall 2020 Marching Band season for Colorado high schools has officially been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Colorado Bandmasters Association Marching Committee voted this week to cancel the fall season. That includes all marching band clinics, independent contests, the CBA Regionals, and the CBA State Championships. The Friendship Cup marching events have also been canceled.

The decision to cancel the fall marching band season comes as the CBA has been communicating with CHSAA as well as following communications from the governor's office, the Colorado Department of Health and Environment, the CDC, and directives from school districts around the state.

The CBA considered other options for the fall season including having normal marching band events, events without spectators, virtual events, sending judges to schools for evaluations, and having non-competitive or exhibition marching events. However, in the interest of the health and safety of students, band staff, and event workers and judges, it was determined by the CBA that the best option was to simply cancel the entire marching season.

This one hits close to home for me, being a former band guy in a previous life a few years ago. For those of us who were in band and loved performing, the marching band was a big part of the entire music experience. I know this news is terribly disappointing for Colorado's band directors, students, and their parents. While this cancellation won't stop the music, it is going to leave a hole in the upcoming school year for marching band students across the state.