The Iowa town that’s the birthplace of "The Music Man" Meredith Willson is hosting an appropriate event as Memorial Day weekend gets underway. The 69th annual North Iowa Band Festival starts tonight in Mason City and runs through Sunday. Band Fest coordinator Vance Baird says the events kick off with a 17-mile car cruise and all sorts of live entertainment.
Starting at 5 o’clock, the band "Working Class" will perform 60s-70s-and-80s music, followed at 6 o’clock by the band "Second Hand" performing music from the 70s-and-80s. The night wraps up with the county act "Kendall Meyer" at 8 o’clock. Saturday is the main day of the festival and Baird says there will be several events going on before the big parade, which begins at 10 A.M.
He says there will be 24 high school bands participating as well as two special marching band units, the Isiserettes of Des Moines and Su-Fu-Du of Sioux Falls South Dakota. Baird says there will be several other events and bands playing, including "Skinny Blues" from Fort Madison. There will be a high school drum line competition, followed by performances by the Mason City High School Jazz Band and the Mason City Municipal Band. For more information, visit www.nibandfest.com .