PHOTO BY SAM GARDNER VIA FLORIDA CITRUS SPORTS
Eleven high school marching bands from Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina will compete in the 2026 Florida Blue Battle of the Bands presented by Publix on Friday, November 20, at the Kia Center.
The event begins at 7 p.m. and helps kick off Florida Blue Florida Classic Weekend (Website), and will feature performances by the Florida A&M University “Marching 100” and the Bethune-Cookman University “Marching Wildcats” the night before the two schools meet at Camping World Stadium.
The participating high school bands are:
- Burke High School’s High Stepping Bulldog Band of Charleston, South Carolina
- Deerfield Beach High School’s Mighty Marching Bucks of Deerfield Beach
- Evans High School’s Green Machine Marching Band of Orlando
- First Coast High School’s Buccaneer Marching Band of Jacksonville
- Jones High School’s Marching Tiger Band of Orlando
- Osborne High School’s Red Sea of Sound Marching Band of Marietta, Georgia
- Palm Beach Lakes High School’s Ram Regiment Band of West Palm Beach
- Pebblebrook High School’s Mighty Marching Machine of Mableton, Georgia
- Piper High School’s Band of Pride of Sunrise
- Savannah High School’s Marching Blue Jackets Band of Savannah, Georgia
- Westlake High School’s Mighty Marching Lions of Atlanta.
Bethune-Cookman’s Marching Wildcats bring more than 200 members to the field, including the 14 Karat Gold Dancers, the Sophisticat Flag Corps and the Five Horsemen Drum Majors. The band performed at the Super Bowl XLIII pregame show and the 2010 NFL Pro Bowl halftime, and it has appeared in the film “Drumline” and the Netflix series “Marching Orders.”
Classic Weekend also includes the second annual Florida Classic Golf Tournament presented by Wells Fargo at 8 a.m. Thursday, November 19, at Eagle Creek Golf Club, and the Florida Classic Consortium Kickoff Luncheon presented by Florida Blue at 11:30 a.m. Friday, November 20, at the Rosen Centre.
Full schedule and ticket details are available HERE.
Check out our photos of last year’s event HERE.
