Bemidji High School Marching Band Hosting Annual ‘Meet the Band’ Fundraiser

Every year, the Bemidji High School marching band holds a “Meet the Band” fundraiser to help with traveling expenses and other costs they encounter throughout their competition season, and this year’s event will be held on Tuesday, July 1st.

As the marching band’s only large fundraiser, ‘Meet the Band’ usually has hundreds of community members in attendance to watch the performance and show their support. For some, this will be their only chance to see the unique show, as many of the marching band’s competitions can be hours away.

Last year, poor weather conditions forced the band to perform in the school gym, but the plan for this year is to be out on the track as normal.

“This is a really fun show,” said Bemidji High School Director of Bands Derek Wickum. “Audiences have really been really receptive to the kids’ show this year. The whole point of—really, of anything in life, but especially for these teenagers in high school, it’s all about experiences and how can we have the best experience for the amount of work that we’re putting in? And that’s the time that we get to showcase the show for the community. So we really want everybody to be able to see what we’ve been working on all year, and so they’ll get to hear all of the music without it kind of passing them as they go.”

“Fingers crossed,” he added with a smile.

Doors open at 5:30 PM for the dinner, followed by the show. Tickets cost $20, and all proceeds go right to the marching band.