Marching Music Day 2020: History and Importance of March Forth

Marching Music Day, otherwise called March Forth, Marching Band Day, and National Marching Arts Day is celebrated every March 4th and honors the devoted musicians and performers of numerous different styles and backgrounds. Marching Music Day celebrates all varieties of fine arts that bring us “music on the move.” The March Music Days is a celebration, held annually for two weeks in the second half of March in Rousse, Bulgaria, which attracts numerous elite musicians.

The celebration was established in 1961 as an activity within the frames of the Bulgarian-German cultural cooperation and is hosted by the Municipality of Rousse. Along its history, the music event engaged a wide circle of national and international institutions, for example, the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture, the Union of the Bulgarian writers, Bulgarian National Radio, Bulgarian National Television, and all the more recently British Council, Goethe Institute, Gaudeamus Foundation – the Netherlands, Pro Helvetia, Hungarian Cultural Institute, the Embassy of Austria in Bulgaria, and the Institut Francais – Sofia among others.

The celebration has hosted various debuts, creations explicitly made for it, and remarkable visits, one of the most memorable being Dmitri Shostakovich’s visit in 1965, when the debut of Katerina Ismailova was staged by the Rousse State Opera.

For centuries, the beat of a drum has kept military units moving as one. From the training field to the war zone, the football stadium to the Broadway stage, marching music delights performers and observers. They perform in small gyms, auditoriums, and grand arenas. From small parades to grand spectacles, fifers, pipers, buglers, drum corps, marching bands, parade groups, drill teams, and color guards bring life into music. They carry crowds to their feet and mix a group to an enthusiastic roar.

Marching Music Day History

Drum Corps International established Marching Music Day to celebrate marching music as a connecting with and ever-growing work of art around the globe, and to help celebrate Music In Our Schools Month. As a perfect figure of speech, March Fourth was picked. The Registrar at National Day Calendar® proclaimed the day to March forth into a celebration every year, starting in 2017.

How to celebrate Marching Music Day 2020?

Support your nearby marching music groups by going to their performances, backing their competitions, adding to their endeavors or getting one of their musicians. Regardless of whether it’s through a school, a veterans group or an independent ensemble, they will appreciate your help. Use #MarchForth #MarchingMusicDay to share your help via web-based networking media.