BUCKHANNON, W.Va. — No official numbers have been released yet, but Buckhannon Mayor Robbie Skinner says the World Association of Marching Show Bands competition that wrapped up at West Virginia Wesleyan College this week was a huge success.
Skinner told MetroNews Tuesday morning downtown restaurants, stores and hotels were packed during the entire four-day event.
“We anticipate upwards of 25,000 people came to Buckhannon throughout the course of the four-day event, so that’s a really nice tourism boom for our community,” the mayor said.
The competition, known as the “Superbowl of Marching Bands,” drew 19 marching bands from 13 different countries.
It was only the second time the competition was held in the U.S. and the first time on the East Coast. The U.S. event was in Palm Springs, Ca. in 2017. Last year, it was held in Thailand.
Skinner said the competition usually takes place in a big city, but this time, band members got to experience a taste of small-town hospitality.
“You can imagine if this was held in Los Angeles or in Bangkok or in Hong Kong you might not even know that it’s in town, but in a small town like the city of Buckhannon with 7,000 people strong, the band participants were made to feel like celebrities. The entire community embraced it,” he said.
One band from Poland ended up losing their equipment on a flight to West Virginia. Skinner said local high school band members from Grafton, Philip Barbour, Lewis County, Elkins and Buckhannon-Upshur high schools as well as a few middle schools ended up donating instruments so they could have a successful performance.
“Where else are you going to find that hospitality? We as West Virginians stick together and are always willing to lend a neighbor a helping hand and that doesn’t matter if that neighbor is from around the world,” he said.
While much of the competition was held at Wesleyan’s Ross Field, there was also a parade, a car show and a carnival in Buckhannon.
Country music star Lee Greenwood performed at Wesleyan and then tweeted about his trip to West Virginia after that.
Kim & I enjoyed traveling to West Virginia this week! We even stopped and had ice cream at an original Dairy Queen. Truly enjoy visiting small town USA! 🍦🍦🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/z2uZ7HEoK5
— Lee Greenwood (@TheLeeGreenwood) July 22, 2023
Skinner called it “the best thing Buckhannon has ever hosted.”
“It really made me proud to be mayor of my hometown and to live in such a wonderful community to see all the different cultures coming together to be unified by music,” he said.
Skinner said he hopes the WAMSB organization continues to select small towns to host their annual competition.