The annual SCSBOA Festival hosted by Santiago brought over 20 bands this year from both inside and outside of our district. The festival was held from March 22 to March 24. During the festival, four judges, one of them judging their sight-reading, or playing music they haven’t seen before, judge bands on their performance and formality. Both performances are graded on a similar scale.

Santiago’s own band performed and received a Unanimous Superior, with no other bands surpassing Santiago. Superior-U is only received when all judges grade the band’s performance as a Superior. The grading system is ordered from Poor, to Good, to Excellent, then Superior, and finally Superior-U.

Other high schools within our district performed, none receiving a Superior-U, nor surpassing Santiago in score. During the festival, judges recorded their comments, which will be sent to each school that performed. Thus the festival remains an educational event, allowing bands to receive criticism and improve.