The Astoria High School Marching Band took 1st place at the U of O Festival of Bands.

They were also awarded the plaque for best General Effect.

This past weekend the AHS Marching Band & Colorguard traveled to the University of Oregon to compete in the 2011 Festival of Bands competition. Some huge milestones were achieved. The band has been the hands down state 4A marching band champion for five years running now, but this time they beat every single band in their division (9 bands most of whom are from 6A schools under OSAA guidelines) winning the single A class outright. This put them into the finals show for the first time ever (finals features the top 15 bands from all divisions).

The AHS Band then proceeded to place 8th overall against the top bands from all classes. What makes this special is the size of our band. It is very very difficult for a band our size (28 members total) to compete well against “normal” size marching bands - but compete well they did, earning special accolades from all of the judges and roaring standing ovations form the spectators. They are very much the crowd favorites and we continue to receive tons of fan mail from parents, staff and members of other bands from all over the northwest which can be seen on our AHS Bands Facebook page and website (www.astoriabands.com). You can also see videos of the band on our YouTube page and hear the judge’s comments on our ReverbNation page (follow the links on our website).

The AHS Band is now the favorite to win the single A championships this next weekend in Hillsboro. If that happens it will be the first time a band this size has ever even made it into the finals - let alone win the division. The following weekend the band will travel to Auburn WA to compete against 30 more bands and are likely to make the top five in that contest (last year the band placed 3rd in “Open” class and won the best colorguard award).