For the hometown band, the day began with a morning practice block. The visitors began to arrive at different times throughout the morning; one band even stayed the night at North Middle School. During the practice, the students got to witness a special event: a total solar eclipse. After a break to watch the spectacle, it was back to work, cleaning visuals and working on tone. Once the practice was over, the band assembled into welcome groups. The day before, students worked together to make posters in order to welcome visiting bands. The groups went around and made the visitors feel at home. Shortly afterward, the first bands began warming up for their prelims performance.

After prelims, the bands ate dinner and readied themselves for the finals round. In finals, the competition is not limited to classes; rather, every band competes against the others. The bands who performed later in the evening had a break, and many students used that time to watch other bands and their shows. The shows were a delight of color and sound and many had interesting themes that made their show special. Although not every band could win, every band put on a performance that showed the blood, sweat and tears that went into it. Seeing this product of love and hard work made the festival worth attending. According to local student Brady Grant, “PNW is epic.” Indeed, the bands and all of their efforts make the competition undeniably “epic” to behold.