High school marching bands, kickline teams, and color guard teams from all over Long Island gathered at Mitchell Field Athletic Complex for Newsday’s Marching Band Festival from Oct. 21-23. LHS helped celebrate Newsday with their 61st anniversary by performing at the festival on Thursday, Oct.23. Varsity kickline, marching band, and color guard practiced extremely hard to put their show together in a short amount of time.
LHS spirit teams first debuted this performance at the Homecoming football game halftime show. The band’s performance featured songs “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns and Roses, “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers, and “Master of Puppets” by Metallica. While the marching band played, the varsity kickline and color guard teams danced to the music. Sophomore marching band member Micheal Macchia said, “I always look forward to the band festival from the beginning of the year. I love to watch the bands from other schools play and to have a chance to show what we have been practicing.”
Weeks before Homecoming and the band festival, LHS’s spirit teams prepare with practices at the Kindergarten Center. While the band plays, kickline members dance to their counts while color guard members move their flags. With only five practices together, marching band, kickline, and color guard pulled together a collaboration. Junior kickline member Olivia Pomponio said, “This year was my first time being in the band festival dance. This was such an enjoyable experience to dance with the band. Meeting people from other kicklines and bands in different towns was my favorite moment from the festival.”
Thirteen high schools performed on Oct. 23, including LHS. LHS performed in the latter half, allowing them to watch other high schools perform. While holding their “hot hands” packets and being wrapped in blankets, marching band, kickline, and color guard members sat behind the performers on the bleachers and cheered on other schools. The LHS spirit teams performed flawlessly despite the cool, windy weather. Kickline performed a fan favorite, “L”, “H”, and “S” letters shaped with poms. Senior varsity kickline member Averi Taub said, “I love seeing all the innovative ideas the other schools showcase. Practicing for the band festival is tedious, but having the dance being taught by the captains is so fun. While I am upset it is my last year performing at the band festival, we still are performing this dance at least one more time at the benefit football game and maybe even playoffs.”
After the 13 high schools finished performing, participants and coaches stood on the field while the marching bands from each high school performed “America the Beautiful”. This tradition has been alive since the first year of the band festival. This piece was conducted by all the drum majors from each school interconnecting all the marching bands on Long Island. Drum majors Elin Kim and Lyla Gaffoor received an award on behalf of Lynbrook for their performance.
The Newsday Marching Band Festival connects high school students, teachers, and coaches from all across Nassau and Suffolk counties with one common theme: music. The festival showcases participants’ talent and love of music, honoring the work of Long Island’s youth and upcoming musicians.
