The Lake Charles Toyota Gulf Coast Marching Band Championship will be SATURDAY, October 24, 2026. In 2024 year had over 20 bands registered.
Admission at the gate is $10 or $5 for children & 12 under.
The Lake Charles Toyota Gulf Coast Marching Band Championship (formerly the "Showdown at Sundown") is hosted each year in October by the McNeese State University Cowboy Marching Band. This Saturday high school marching band festival is held in the beautiful Cowboy Stadium on the McNeese campus.
This is a festival/competitive format, with bands receiving both ratings (music, visual, GE, color guard, percussion, & overall band) and competitive scoring within captions and classes. Trophies are awarded for:
General Participation Plaque
Superior Rating in each caption (Music, Visual, GE, Perc, Guard)
High Music, Visual, GE, Percussion, & Guard within classes
High Music, Visual, GE, Percussion & Guard overall
Top 3 scoring band in each class
Top 5 overall scoring bands
Band Classifications are based on the total number of marching winds + marching percussion:
A - 1-40
2A- 41-80
3A- 81-120
4A- 121+
2026 LCTGCMBC Judges
Music - Dr. Dan Harbaugh
Visual - Ashton Franssen
General Effect - Michael Cotton
Percussion - Joe Fant
Guard - Stephanie Burroughs