Raging Red Band Festival

2026 Raging Red Band Festival

Tuesday, March 3 at the NDSU Challey School of Music
Wednesday, March 4 at the NDSU Challey School of Music
Thursday, March 5 at Sheyenne High School

Registration is now open!

Registration fees will be the same as last year: $300 for the first band and $265 for each additional band. If the number of bands exceeds the available spaces, we will accept bands according to registration date. We urge you to register as soon as possible.

Please complete both steps below to fully register for the festival by December 1, 2025. Both steps do not need to be completed on the same day, but your application will not be complete until we receive your payment.

1. Complete the registration form:

2. Submit your payment:

Pay Here

A few important notes:

Deadline for registration is December 1, 2025. While we have expanded to three full days this year, we will be unable to accommodate more than 54 bands, taken first come, first served.
March 3rd and 4th will happen at NDSU, and March 5th will be hosted at Sheyenne HS (same judges all three days).
The new payment site is for credit card payments only. The cardholder may be you, someone in your building, or someone in your district office; they just need to know the director name, school name, and band names when they submit the payment. Please note that we are unable to issue refunds due to weather conditions. Registration fees are used to secure judges for the festival dates, and their travel expenses, ahead of time. If you need to pay by check, please send an email to Daniel.Lee.3@ndsu.edu.
John Warren will do his best to meet the scheduling requests, but will follow up with individual directors as needed. Please provide as much detail in your scheduling request as possible. No specific times/dates will be guaranteed ahead of time.
For now, questions regarding registration can be sent to Daniel.Lee.3@ndsu.edu. After the schedules are created and shared, more information will be sent out specific to the day and site of your performance.

Read John Warren’s welcome letter below!

Welcome Letter

General Information

Join us at North Dakota State University March 3-4 and at Sheyenne High School March 5 for the 2026 Raging Red Band Festival! This annual event is a unique opportunity to help your students become stronger performers and a better band. Here’s what to expect:

Feedback from four nationally recognized adjudicators, both in comments and in clinic sessions with the adjudicators actually spending time working with your band.
Clinics with the NDSU instrumental faculty on everyone’s instruments throughout the day.
Performances by the NDSU Wind Symphony and other NDSU music ensembles.
A chance to hear other bands like yours in performance.

Participating bands should plan for a half-day of participation to fully benefit from the activities of the day. You may choose the block of time that best works for you; whether it’s from 8:00 AM to noon, 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM, or something similar. We strongly suggest all bands be on site at their assigned location (either NDSU or Sheyenne High School; assignments are TBD) no later than 11:15 AM on the day you are attending the Raging Red Band Festival.

Faculty Master Classes

Throughout the day, your students will have a chance to work with NDSU faculty in clinics that address playing on their specific instrument. If you miss a session, don’t worry—there will be several throughout the day for your students to attend.

The clinicians for the 2026 Raging Red Band Festival are TBA.

NDSU Ensemble Performances

The NDSU Wind Symphony will perform on Tuesday and Wednesday of the festival. This is a great way for your students to hear a college-level band, composed of students much like themselves! Plan to build this performance into your schedule as part of your day at NDSU.

On Thursday, an NDSU ensemble will also perform at Sheyenne High School. Stay tuned for more information!

Festival Format

Bands will perform for an adjudicated rating for comments only.

Each band will be given 25 minutes in the warm up and will have 25 minutes to enter, perform, and exit the stage. Bands will then move to the clinic room where they will have 25 minutes with the adjudicator.

Classifications
- Bands will be classified between middle school and high school. Schools with multiple ensembles will register their top band at the appropriate classification. Lower bands will be registered at lower classifications, which are determined by school size and will be listed on the registration form.
Repertoire
- Bands are encouraged to play 2 or more selections of contrasting styles. Bands will provide 3 original and numbered scores for the adjudication panel. Photocopies of scores are acceptable if accompanied by publisher’s letter for those out of print or proof of purchase for backordered scores.
Awards
- All bands have the option to participate for ratings or comments, only.
- Awards will be presented based on the average of the 3 adjudicators’ scores
  - Gold Award- 90-100
  - Silver Award- 80-89
  - Bronze Award- 79 and below
  - Outstanding Section Awards will be given based on an adjudicator’s recommendations.
  - Outstanding Soloist Awards will be given based on an adjudicator’s recommendations.

Questions?

Please contact Daniel Lee at daniel.lee.3@ndsu.edu or John Warren at 701.220.6259.