Harvest Music Fest Sept. 27-28

The Geneseo Harvest Music Festival will kick off a weekend of activities with the 18th annual Maple Leaf Marching Band Classic on Sept. 27 at the Bob Reade Field at Geneseo High School. 

The two-day festival, Sept. 27-28, is sponsored by the Geneseo Performing Arts Council? (GPAC).

The marching band competition will be from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sept. 27 with 12 area high school bands competing for top-band honors.  

The public is invited to the competition, which features bands from Cambridge, Alwood, El Paso, Oak Park/River Forest, Marengo, Pekin, Davenport North, Rockridge, Yorkville, Normal, Davenport Central, and Galesburg. 

The Geneseo High School Marching Band will give an exhibition performance.   

On Sept 28, festivities will be held from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. in Geneseo City Park.  In the case of rain, events will be relocated to Geneseo High School.

Pork chops, hot dogs and brats will be sold as individual sandwiches or included in meals with serving from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.

The talent show will be from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., and additional activities in the park include games, karaoke, face painting, and raffle drawings.

Members of the seventh- and eighth-grade choirs will perform from 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sept 28 in the park, followed by high-school vocalists performing from 1:30 to 2 p.m. 

Choirs representing all grades will present the grand finale, “Miss Edward’s Favorites” featuring a special appearance by the Nova Singers and dance performance by Avis Kutzman and Joe Petra at 4:45 p.m.

Raffle drawings and an auction are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.  Tickets for the large raffle items are available from band and choir students or their parents, or by calling (309) 441-5792.  The large raffle prizes include:

First place – one year of groceries ($100-per-week for 52 weeks) sponsored by Fareway of Geneseo.

Second place – an HD Flat Screen TV (valued at $800) sponsored by the Friends of GPAC.

Third place – a mobile GPS device (valued at $500) sponsored by Geneseo Communications Inc.  

Additional raffle and auction items include:  golf packages; witch donated

by Bethany Lowe Designs, Geneseo; four matinee/lunch tickets for Snow White donated by Circa 21 Dinner Theatre, Rock Island; landscape package from Steve’s Nursery including 2 cubic yards mulch donated by Edwards Ready Mix, Geneseo; 1 airplane ride or introductory flight lesson donated by Kent Johnson, Geneseo, and 1 brass airplane ornament; and  many more including numerous restaurant and theater items.

Some of the raffle items will be on display in the window of Guzzardo’s Hallmark in downtown Geneseo.

Profits from the Harvest Music Fest benefit band, choir and drama students in the Geneseo School District.