The World Association of Marching Show Bands will be in Upshur County this summer for its world championship competition.
written by JORDAN HOWES
LOOKING FOR A MUSIC-FILLED WEEK of drumbeats and marching tunes? Buckhannon will host the World Association of Marching Show Bands (WAMSB) championship competition July 17–24. It has been six years since the event was held in the U.S., and West Virginia was selected to host it after a series of applications sent to a selection committee.
This year’s showcase theme is “Uniting the World Through Music,” and Randy Sanders, the host committee president, shares his excitement and the ways that such an event can impact West Virginia. “We want our young people to benefit from this experience and compete on a world level, world stage. But beyond that, we want to meet the leaders of their community because we want this to go far beyond July 24,” he says.
WAMSB has members from more than 30 nations and participants of all ages. Sanders explained that the city of Buckhannon is raising money to install temporary bleachers at Ross Field—the football field at Wesleyan College—to seat an additional 3,080 people at the stadium. “We’ll be able to seat more than 4,000 individuals for the different ceremonies and the different competitions,” Sanders says.
The tentative event schedule can be found online and includes the various locations and times for all scheduled activities and performances. According to the WAMSB 2023 website, “Visitors will have the opportunity to come together to experience the sounds and visual talents of other cultures and be immersed in the unique art, music, and culture of Appalachia.”
For more information on the showcase and volunteer opportunities, visit wamsb2023.com.
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