VALDOSTA — Valdosta High School Marchin’ Cats offers regional bands the chance to strut their stuff Tuesday, Sept. 26, with the Seventh Annual Southern Open.

The Southern Open Marching Band Exhibition allows South Georgia bands a chance to present their shows without the pressure of competing against one another, according to organizers.

Though they will not compete for trophies or a grand championship, an expert panel will offer band directors thoughts on each performance, Michael Thomas, VHS Marchin’ Cats band director, has said. The comments can help a band improve its shows or sharpen its edge for the coming competitions.

For schools that do compete, the exhibition allows the bands a venue for fine-tuning their performances before the coming round of competitions. The competition season starts Saturday.

Some area high school bands spend almost every weekend in October traveling and competing in marching competitions.

The 2017 Southern Open is the second since the passing of longtime regional band director Frank Butenschon.

Thomas and Butenschon announced the return of the Southern Open in 2011.

Butenschon, a former VHS band director, started the first series of Southern Opens decades ago.

In 2011, he recalled how the first one demonstrated the extent of the South Georgia commitment to marching bands.

In the 1970s, band boosters approached Butenschon about hosting a regional band event. But the original Southern Open would not be an exhibition but, rather, a full competition. 

“They wanted a blood-and-guts, hard-won band competition,” Butsenschon said.

Hoping to avoid such a pressure cooker, Butenschon told folks he would need $10,000 to bring judges from outlying states, even as faraway as New York. If they wanted to do it right, they would need a great deal of money. 

“I thought that would be the end of it,” Butsenschon said in a past interview, “but, oh, no, they gave me $10,000.”

The 2017 Southern Open bands are Valdosta High School Marchin’ Cats, Lowndes High School Georgia Bridgemen, Fitzgerald High School Marching Canes, Lanier County High School Marching Bulldogs, Cook High School Marching Hornets, Thomasville High School Marching Bulldogs, Irwin County High School Marching Big Red, Berrien County High School Rebel Regiment, Tift County High School, Blue Devil Brigade.

Valdosta State University Blazin’ Brigade presents a special exhibition performance.

VHS Marchin’ Cats presents the Seventh Annual Southern Open Band Exhibition, 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 26, Bazemore-Hyder Stadium, Williams Street. Tickets: $5, advance; $8, gate.