Crowds cheered and applauded as aspiring high school bands put on a day of shows filled with musical talent and visual/sound effects on Saturday, Oct. 25, for the Contest of Champions.

MTSU welcomed 28 high school bands from inside and outside Tennessee to the competition for its 62nd traditional event to conclude the marching season.

The Contest of Champions goes back to 1962, when it started during the tenure of director emeritus Joseph T. Smith, along with the late Horace C. Beasley, director of the concert band. It is currently America’s longest-running traditional marching competition. 

In the preliminary finals, Hardin Valley Academy was the winner of the special Esprit de Corps award. This was created in honor of the legacy of director Emeritus Smith and was awarded to the band that most displayed the spirit, enthusiasm and commitment reflected by his legacy. Smith’s daughter, Cindy Keith, presented the award to Hardin Valley Academy. 

Through this platform, high school bands showcase their work from the preparation and effort that has been put into the field both before and during the season.

The contest, traditionally held in October, is run through the Band of Blue. Students managed jobs to help manage the function of everything during the day.

The bands represented schools from both inside and outside Tennessee, with two coming down from Kentucky and four coming up from Alabama. There were 18 Middle Tennessee schools represented, with four from East Tennessee.

Throughout the day, the bands impressed the audience with a varying array of themed shows and music, along with creative visual props, designed to tell a story. One band had a ship set up as a prop, and in particular, Hardin Valley Academy had buildings set up from a historical century, decked out in uniforms resembling the early 1900s, with their show “Start Spreading the News.” Several of the bands also featured solos from particular instruments, highlighting the sections.

As the host of the contest, MTSU’s Band of Blue put on two performances of their 2025 season show, Earth, Wind, & Fire, following the preliminary and finals performances, respectively. In their first performance of the afternoon, they were decked out in Halloween costumes to celebrate the spirit of the coming holiday. They also split up and ran out onto the field from each tunnel with the tune “Thriller” playing.

MTSU freshman Cade Compton shared some of the enthusiasm he had during the day, getting to witness the bands up close with his job task.

“I just finished with what I had to do to work, which was the front ensemble equipment, and I’m really enjoying it so far,” Compton said. “It’s definitely cool to go back into the competition sort of aspect of things.

Dobyns-Bennett High School’s Marching Band, from Kingston, Tennessee, was the overall winner at the end of the night. They qualified for the finals following the preliminary performance and won with a 90.6 score, receiving the 62nd Contest of Champions Grand Champions Award, the Tennessee Governor’s Cup and a Contest of Champions Crest. Dobyns-Bennett’s show for 2025 was titled “Until Forever.” 

The Tennessee Governor’s Cup is awarded to the participating band receiving the highest score in the competition, and a Contest of Champions Crest is awarded to the school scoring the highest within the finals competition. 

“The Contest of Champions is such a historic contest, really not just in Tennessee, but one of the oldest continually operating contests in the country,” Lafe Cook, director of the marching band, said. “It’s a huge honor to be named the champion of the event.”

Dobyns-Bennett was also the winner of the awards for Outstanding Visual Performance, Outstanding Effect and Outstanding Musical Performance.

Following them in the rankings was Franklin High School in 2nd place as the Reserve Grand Champion, and James Clemons High School in 3rd place as the Honorable Mention.

The 63rd Contest of Champions is set to take place in the fall of 2026.