In December 1981, four of the five local Tri-City bands were preparing to go to the King Bowl Marching Band Festival in Seattle, which was the final competition for the year. Rather than doing a final rehearsal, they all agreed to meet at Edgar Brown Stadium in Pasco to perform their shows for each other as well as our parents and friends.

To their surprise, the stadium was nearly full on one side. That evening, Randy and Jana Hubbs
from Pasco High School, and John Owen from Kennewick High School, decided to move forward with the idea of jointly hosting a competitive marching band festival as a precursor to the Pacific Northwest Marching Band Festival hosted by Gary Green at University High School in Spokane.

An executive board was created from members of both instrumental music booster clubs and
the first Cavalcade of Bands was held on October 9, 1982, at Edgar Brown Memorial Stadium in Pasco with 12 bands in attendance.

In October 1997, the Cavalcade was held in the Neil F. Lampson Stadium in Kennewick, while
Edgar Brown went through major renovations. From that point until more recently, the event
was held on alternate fields between the two schools until Kennewick took over the festival in the Fall of 2021.

This festival would not be where it is today where it not for the many dedicated people who
gave countless hours of volunteer time throughout the years. There is far too many to name
this evening but the impact it has made on all of the participants throughout the years has left a lasting legacy not only to them but our community here in the Tri-Cities.

This year’s Cavalcade of Bands celebrates it's 40th anniversary as the longest lasting marching
band festival in the history of the Pacific Northwest.

One important person in Cavalcade history has been Bill Dickey. He started with Cavalcade back in 1982 (at the beginning) when his daughter was a junior at Pasco High School. He believed in Cavalcade’s mission of music education so much that he stayed with Cavalcade even after his daughter graduated. Bill served as the Corresponding Secretary and was the ‘voice of Cavalcade’ with his announcer duties. Bill passed away in January 2006, and he will be truly missed.

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In 2021, Kennewick High Schools Instrumental Program became the sole and permanent hosts for Cavalcade, with every year from then on taking place at Lampson Stadium, with the beautiful new KeHS as the backdrop to the event.  We look forward to 40 more years of marching band excitement as we have had the last 40 years.

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