Marching its way through the crowd, Diamond Bar High School’s Thundering Herd won sweepstakes with an overall score of 96.05 for the first time in the 61st Annual Arcadia Festival of Bands on Nov. 15.

The Thundering Herd, along with other participants from schools all over Southern California, gathered in Arcadia to compete in this grand event. There were four categories that each school was scored separately on: band, auxiliary (also known as color guard), drum major, and music. The judges used the band with the best score, which was based on its marching and showmanship, to determine the overall winner of the event.

Not wanting to let its longtime rival, Riverside King High School, take the lead again, DBHS’s marching band began at band camp practicing two weeks before school started.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s hard, but difficult to improve the tiny things. The practices the week before were very intense and we had to take apart every piece and perfect it,” senior oboe player Annie Chin said.

Meanwhile, the marching band wasn’t the only group that practiced hard to prepare for the event. After placing first in last year’s Festival of Bands, the DBHS color guard was determined to make history yet again.

“It was extremely vigorous. Our coaches pushed us [color guard] and made us expect more of ourselves. We did parts of the routine until they were as perfect as we could make them and then we would do the entire piece once or twice with the band. That took up the two hour practice,” senior color guard captain Hedy Yu said via Facebook.
With a score of 94.20, the color guard also won sweepstakes, beating its last year record.

“I nearly cried when I heard our [color guard] name being called for winning sweeps,” Yu said.

Last but not least, the school’s drum major sophomore Rebecca Kimn, who placed second in the military baton division in the Loara Band Review, won first place in the category with a personal best of 90.75.

“As Bubba Watson [professional golfer] so aptly said, ‘I’ve never had a dream go this far, so I can’t really say it’s a dream come true.’ But in all seriousness, it was a dream come true,” Kimn said.