Lawrence High school junior Peydon Church keeps her flute warm before performing Saturday. The Lions placed second at the marching festival.

Kansas University plays host to the 18th annual heart of America Marching Festival at Memorial Stadium on Saturday. Lawrence High School, playing above, was one of several marching bands competing from Missouri, Nebraska and Kansas.

Free State High School’s marching band takes to the field in its performance Saturday. The Firebirds placed fourth in the competition.

Rich Galbraith wears A button with the picture of Lawrence High School band member Andrew Galbraith, his son, as he claps for him and the rest of the LHS marching band.

Four Harley riders were slightly confused Saturday afternoon as they pulled up to Memorial Stadium. They heard music, saw people, but something was missing.

“Hey, where’s the tailgate parties?” said one of the riders. “I thought there was a game going on.”

There wasn’t a game, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a heated competition inside the stadium, as 20 marching bands from high schools across the region fought for first place in the 18th annual Heart of America Marching Festival.

And that meant the Free State High School Firebirds and the Lawrence High School Lions took to the field to show who the best marching band in this city is.

Last year, Free State placed second in the competition, just ahead of the Lions. The Lions, however, will be sure to remind you that the two actually tied, but Free State won on a tie-breaker measure.

How heated is this cross-town rivalry?

“It’s pretty competitive, but they’re in Lawrence and we love them,” LHS junior Meredith Burke said of Free State’s band.

OK, so it’s not exactly a heated feud, and the two schools’ band directors set the tone for the event.

“This is one of the most friendly rivalries,” said LHS band director Mike Jones.

Free State Junior Amy Stuhl embraced that sentiment.

“If Free State doesn’t win, we want LHS to win,” she said.

Fellow Firebird Ian Patterson, a sophomore, said his band would be in the stands to support the Lions if they made it to the finals.

“Yeah, we’ll be rooting for them,” he said.

Free State band director, Randy Fillmore, said he doesn’t measure the success of the competition on who wins. “It’s more about improving as a band,” he said.

The Lions will have bragging rights for the next year after finishing second to the Firebirds’ fourth place.

But some of the student musicians were able to keep the focus on aspects other than winning.

Meghan McBride, LHS senior, said of why she likes marching band, “It’s nice to be part of something bigger.”

For fellow LHS band member Burke, it simply comes down to being out on the field playing music.

“I love the feeling,” Burke said.