The Murray State University Festival of Champions was established in 1976 by the Marching Thoroughbreds Band Director David A. Wells. The original Festival of Champions contest required Kentucky bands to receive a Superior or Excellent rating at the current or previous year’s KMEA regional festival to be eligible to participate in the contest. Bands from other states must have participated at a competition comparable to the KMEA Festival to be accepted. The Festival of Champions presented the highest scoring Kentucky band with the “Kentucky Governors Cup,” and the contest was billed as the “Kentucky State Championship.” In 1986, Mr. Wells was present at the first KMEA State Marching Band Championship. He presented the Governors Cup(s) to the winning bands and the KMEA SMBC became the official home of the Kentucky Marching Band Championship. The first FOC was hosted by the Marching Thoroughbred Band. The band name was changed to Racer Band before the 1978 season. The adjudicators during those first years consisted of many well know and acclaimed educators of the time. A partial list of judges included John Armstrong, Chuck Campbell, A.R. Casavant, Dr. Charles Casavant, Larry Case, Jay Dawson, Jim Fern, Doyle Heffron, Jim Ott, Tom Roe, Fred Sanford and Dwight Somerville.
For more information, visit the Racer Band website at www.racerband.com.
