Hundreds of students will be singing and dancing at Franklin Community High School this weekend.
They are traveling from around the state and Midwest to compete in the contest Franklin is hosting. Choirs from as far away as Kansas City are expected to trek hundreds of miles to compete in front of a panel of judges and hear feedback about shows they have been working on for months.
The choir department of Franklin Community High School, along with the choir’s booster club, is hosting one of the biggest show choir competitions in the state on Friday and Saturday. The ShowFest 2019 is the choir department’s biggest fundraiser, organizers said.
About 50 show choirs are expected to perform at Franklin Community High School and the show choir students, along with the family and friends who are traveling to see them perform, are expected to bring an estimated 3,500 to 5,000 people into the county this weekend.
“It is just a really great opportunity to showcase our facility and our town,” Michael Hummel, head choir director, said.
Most of their meals will likely be eaten at the school, but some restaurants may see an influx of diners and a hotel in Greenwood has been booked to host the students from the furthest schools, Hummel said.
Registration fees from the show choirs that attend, concession sales from the food their fans eat and admission tickets are expected to raise tens of thousands of dollars that will help the school’s show choirs get the things they need.
“The money that is raised that day, it really supports our students and makes it able to do what we want to do,” Hummel said.
A committee of about 30 people have worked on planning the 4th annual ShowFest since last year’s event ended. About 230 volunteers will help get show choir students around, serve concessions and check in the performers, said Debbie Baldridge, president of the choir boosters.
The competition will take up nearly all of the school.
Show choirs that travel to Franklin will get a chance to perform on a stage erected in the school’s gym and on the main stage in the school’s performing arts center. About 60 soloists will compete in the media center and show choirs will be able to hear feedback in classrooms in a clinic-type atmosphere.
Other schools, including Center Grove, host annual competitions and nearly every show choir in the county will spend part of their weekends in the winter months traveling to schools in the state and Midwest to get feedback and compete.
However, Franklin’s ShowFest has grown to one of the largest in the state since the school started hosting the annual competition in 2014, organizers said.
Booster parents around that time were used to traveling around the state to watch their students compete. They began asking questions about what it would take to throw their own choir festival and the choir was looking for ways to raise funds for show choir goals, said Lisa Deno, an alumni parent volunteer.
“We have an incredible facility and we really needed to find a way that could bring in more money to the program so we could do some bigger things,” she said.
Every since the inaugural event they have grown.
Show choir directors are looking for the best value for their competition dollars when they are picking which competitions their students will be a part of, Hummel said.
“When you are a director and are bringing your groups, you are paying for those comments and adjudication,” Hummel said. “You want your kids to have that experience.”
Hummel always seeks out the best judges to attract more schools to their competition and the state of the art performance facilities have also been cited as a draw to the school. And Hummel personally invites choirs, which puts a nice touch on the festival, he said.
The competition is expected to bring $35,000 to the choir booster program and will go directly back to choir students, Hummel said.
Money from last year’s competition went toward buying costume pods to make it easier to store and transport costumes to and from competitions. Proceeds from this year’s competition will go toward students who need help making a trip to St. Louis later this year or who need help paying show choir fees that can add up to $800. Money will also be used to help buy lighting equipment and wrap a new trailer, Baldridge said.
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What: ShowFest 2019 show choir competition
When: 5 p.m. Friday and all day and evening starting at 7 a.m. Saturday
Where: Franklin Community High School, 2600 Cumberland Drive
Cost: $25 for all events both days. $10 for just Friday. $20 for all events Saturday. $12 for preliminary events Saturday. $10 for finals Saturday.
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