Collegiate Marching Band Festival

Indiana University of Pennsylvania's marching band at CMBF in November 1999

West Chester University's marching band at CMBF in 2004

The Collegiate Marching Band Festival, also called the CMBF, is an annual event held in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The festival showcases college and university marching bands of all sizes and styles from across the Northeastern United States.

First held in 1996, the event typically takes places in early October at J. Birney Crum Stadium, a renowned venue for marching band and drum corps performances and the largest high school football stadium in the Mid-Atlantic United States.

The festival is not a competition, but an opportunity for fans and band members alike to view bands that perform a variety of shows and exhibit different performance styles.

The festival is currently managed by Vivace Productions, Inc. in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Different Styles

While many of the participating bands perform contemporary “corps style” shows using roll-step marching, other performance varieties abound. Morgan State University, from Baltimore, Maryland, performs a high-energy show typical of southern HBCU bands. Lehigh University and Penn State University, both of which have participated in the past, perform traditional "Big Ten" style shows with a high-step marching technique (the coincidence that Penn State is in the Big Ten). Other bands, including Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, West Chester University, The University of Delaware, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Boston University’s Terrier Marching Band have developed unique styles all their own: the corps-style type with the roll-step and other drill techniques.

Traditions

Celebrating its 21st occurrence in 2016, the festival has a number of traditions, which spectators and performers have come to anticipate on an annual basis.

Order of performance

The order of performance is rotated on an annual basis although it still follows a pattern where smaller-sized bands perform early in the day and larger bands perform later. As a custom, the first band to perform also plays the National Anthem to signify the start of the festival.

Vendors

The festival features an area for vendors to set up information booths. Vendors have included companies involved in the marching arts, drum and bugle corps from both Drum Corps International and Drum Corps Associates, and recruiting tables for participating schools.

Concessions

J. Birney Crum Stadium boasts some eccentric food choices. Among them can be found fried pierogies and giant Hawaiian Shave Ices that resemble softball-sized snow cones. Many festival-goers make these treats a regular part of the annual event.

Musical Organizations

The Collegiate Marching Band Festival is traditionally staffed by the Eta Rho chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi and the Zeta Upsilon chapter of Tau Beta Sigma. Members of these organizations from several chapters use the festival as a time to gather together and socialize while engaging in their own particular traditions.

Additional musical fraternities such as Phi Mu Alpha also congregate at this time. Alumni and members of area drum corps gather and socialize at the event; most notably the Reading Buccaneers gather annually at the end of the event on or near the field. Students, staff, and alumni from the participating bands take this opportunity to commingle with other members and before all the schools depart. Many of the organizations sing their respective hymn/song before departing the festival.

Tubas/Sousaphones

After the last band performs, the tuba and sousaphone players from several of the larger bands congregate at the center of the field to play traditional tunes, socialize with each other, and generally put on a humorous display for the exiting crowds. This congregation is called "The Clusterfun".

Collegiate Marching Band Festival

Different Styles

Traditions

Performing Ensembles (2003-2014)

8th Annual CMBF

9th Annual CMBF

10th Annual CMBF

11th Annual CMBF

12th Annual CMBF

13th Annual CMBF

14th Annual CMBF

15th Annual CMBF

16th Annual CMBF

17th Annual CMBF

18th Annual CMBF

19th Annual CMBF

External links

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