Gazette-Mail Kanawha County Majorette and Band Festival


The Gazette-Mail Kanawha County Majorette and Band Festival is an annual festival dedicated to the public high school bands and majorette corps in Kanawha County, West Virginia. The event is held at the University of Charleston Stadium at Laidley Field in Charleston, West Virginia at the end of September of each year. The first event was held in 1947, and was attended by nearly 25,000 people. In past years, "The Star Spangled Banner" was played by the previous year's Festival Grand Champion. Beginning in 2013, all eight competing bands combined perform the National Anthem. The 2019 Festival Grand Champion is George Washington High School. The event was sponsored by the Charleston Daily Mail newspaper, but is now sponsored by the Charleston Gazette-Mail after the Daily Mail merged with the Charleston Gazette in 2015. It is the longest running music festival in West Virginia. 2019 was the 73rd anniversary of the festival.

The JoAnn Jarrett Holland Memorial Scholarship Fund

A $2,500 scholarship is awarded to the girl who places first in the feature twirler competition. This is an annual award given each year at the festival. This scholarship honors the memory of JoAnn Jarrett Holland, who won the competition in 1949 and 1950. Not only did she excel at this event, but she also supported it by attending the festival each year for the rest of her life. In 1973 her daughter, Kathi Holland Burton, won this competition and went on to be the feature twirler at West Virginia University for seven years.

WVU and Marshall exhibition shows

Every year, the Majorette and Band Festival has an exhibition show following the final high school performance before the awards ceremony. On the odd numbered years, West Virginia University's marching band, "," does one of their exhibition shows and on the even numbered years, Marshall University's marching band, "," does one of their exhibition shows.
WVU's marching band began performing for the festival in 2003. Marshall University's marching band began performing for the festival in 2004. The festival acts as a great recruitment opportunity for both bands.

High school bands

There are currently eight public high schools in Kanawha County. All participate in the festival.
Current High Schools:
Former High Schools:
The title of Miss Kanawha Majorette is awarded to the one girl who is the outstanding majorette of the evening of those competing in the category. The first girl to be named Miss Kanawha Majorette was Dolores Thompson in 1947. An annual tradition of being named Miss Kanawha Majorette is returning the next year to present the award to that year's Miss Kanawha Majorette with the trophy, tiara, and bouquet of flowers. A girl cannot be named Miss Kanawha Majorette for two consecutive years, however, it is possible for a girl to be named it twice.
Juliana Kemp is the only majorette to win the title of Miss Kanawha Majorette twice, once in 2003 and again in 2005. She went on to become the Feature Twirler for West Virginia State University's "Marching Swarm" from 2006 to 2008. Another former Miss Kanawha Majorette also went on to become the Feature Twirler for West Virginia State University. Miss Kanawha Majorette 2006, Stevi Ryder, was their Feature Twirler for 2010 and was a co-Feature Twirler for 2011 and 2012.
South Charleston High School has had the most girls named Miss Kanawha Majorette with a total of ten. Next to them is Herbert Hoover High School, Sissonville High School, and the former DuPont High School with eight; the former Charleston High School with seven; the former Stonewall Jackson High School and St. Albans High School with six; Capital High School and George Washington High School have five; Riverside High School has three; Nitro High School and the former Dunbar High School and East Bank High School have two.
Before 1970, there was no award for Festival Grand Champion. 1970 was the first year the Festival Grand Championship was awarded. Herbert Hoover High School was the first school to win the Festival Grand Championship.
Until 2019, Capital High School was the only school to have won the Festival Grand Championship for eleven consecutive years and more than ten wins. Capital High School is the highest winning school with a total of eighteen wins. Next to them is George Washington High School with eleven wins; then Herbert Hoover High School with nine wins; Nitro High School with four; St. Albans High School and the former DuPont High School with three wins; and Sissonville High School and the former Charleston High School with one win. South Charleston High School, Riverside High School, and the former Dunbar High School, East Bank High School, and Stonewall Jackson High School have never won the Festival Grand Championship.