The best part of summer parades has officially kicked off with the Sartell High School marching band starting its season this past week.

The marching Sabres are ecstatic for the 2024 season; there are over 60 total students participating which is the biggest year for the Sabres post-Covid. Each year there is a theme for their show picked by head director David Lumley, this year is “paranormal.”

They will begin the season by having two, three-hour weekly practices until the last week of May, with a special Memorial Day performance hosted by the Lions Club. 

Starting on June 3rd, the Sabres will start a 9 am-2 pm, Monday – Friday “spat camp.” This week will be capped with a parent showcase on Friday night at the football field and a hometown performance in the Sartell Days parade.

They will also participate in six other parades in June across the state with practices mixed in.

Here is the official parade schedule:

Display Night – June 7th, 6pm

Sartell – June 8th, 10am

Litchfield – June 11th, 6pm

Benson – June 14th, 6:30pm

Milica – June 20th, undecided

Sauk Rapids – June 21st, 6pm

St. Cloud – June 29th, 10am

Alexandria – June 30th, 1:30pm

The Sabres are currently hard at work learning the music and practicing their basic marching techniques. Like any activity, there are different classes, they are not sure what class they will be participating in this year but they are pumped to start competing. 

Marching band is scored out of a possible perfect score of 100 points. 20 possible points for music performance and for visual performance, these two average out for a possible 40 points, then these are added to the three general effects judges’ scores being music general effects one and two, and visual general effect. Colorguard and drumline are scored separately. 

The prizes you can win are a trophy for 1st-3rd place in your respective class and varying prize money amounts that most bands put right back into the program.