Jackson cancels band festival for 2009

For the second consecutive Tuesday, Mother Nature has silenced the music at the Southeast Missouri Band Festival in Jackson.

Jackson High School band director Scott Vangilder said the decision to cancel the festival was made after speaking with a local broadcast meteorologist who told him while the rain would never be too heavy this afternoon, it would be constant. Vangilder decided the field at Jackson High School was too wet to hold performances and called off the festival.

This would have been festival's 65th year. The festival was canceled in 2008 also, following two weeks of inclement weather. In 2007, the noncompetitive event played host to 11 bands for field shows and 12 bands for the parade.