Details

WHAT MAKES OUR CONTEST SPECIAL?

After your field performance, a clinician will present a short critique as portions of your show are projected on a large screen. Your group will get immediate critique on your strengths and weaknesses with possible methods for improvement. The final packet will include all of the judge’s comments and a video of your performance.

WHERE ARE YOU LOCATED?

The Blue Ridge Mountain Marching Festival is located in Blue Ridge, GA which is in Fannin County. Blue Ridge is only 90 miles north of Atlanta on the Georgia-Tennessee-North Carolina line. Come for the marching bands but stay for the beauty. Blue Ridge is the perfect place for family vacations or mountain views with its 106,000 acres of national forest and 300 miles of hiking trails. Blue Ridge was also ranked third by Southern Living Magazine on the 2022 South’s Best Mountain Towns.

CLASSIFICATION INFORMATION:

Bands perform in order of postmark according to GMEA wind size classification guidelines. It is permissible for a band to enter a higher classification but not a lower one. The earliest postmark performs later in each classification. You may enter the festival or competition.

Class Breakdown by wind instrument size

GOLD DIVISION

SILVER DIVISION

JUDGING

The Blue Ridge Mountain Marching Festival uses the Olympic-style adjudication system. A panel of five adjudicators will be utilized. The highest and lowest scores will be disregarded and the remaining three scores will then be averaged together for the overall band score. Each adjudication sheet is based on a 100-point total. The adjudicated areas are as follows: Music (40 pts.), Marching (30 pts.), and General Effect (30 pts.). Percussion, Colorguard, Dance Team, Majorettes, and Drum Majors It is understood that the contributions of the auxiliaries (colorguard, dance team, majorettes, percussion and drum major) will be taken into consideration by the five adjudicators. However, in order to provide specific feedback in these areas, additional adjudicators will provide comments and ratings for all auxiliaries. These adjudicator scores will not be factored into the overall band score, but they will be the basis for ratings and naming the outstanding auxiliary in each category.

Why Olympic Style Judging?
This system allows the adjudicators to comment on each band’s performance without limitations. In this way, educational feedback regarding the various strengths and weaknesses of each performance may be provided regardless of differences in style and content. The omission of the high and low scores also allows for varying differences of opinion and feedback from the adjudication panel while avoiding unusual point spreads.

Awards:
• Superior and excellent rating trophies given in band, drum majors, and auxiliaries.
• 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place trophies awarded to bands in each classification with 2 or more bands in each class.
• Outstanding Auxiliary award named in each classification.
• Silver Division Champion and Gold Division Champion (Best in Class) trophies awarded to each highest scoring band, auxiliary, and drum major in each division
• Grand Champion Award given regardless of classification.

Score Breakdown:
85.0 – 100 Superior
70.0 – 84.9 Excellent
55.0 – 69.9 Average
0.00 – 54.9 Fair