The Andover High Golden Warrior Marching Band will compete at the New England Scholastic Band Association (NESBA) Finals on Sunday, Nov. 1. North Andover High's marching band earned a spot in the same field.
Both area programs are slated for Division III at Harvard Stadium in Allston, capping months of preparation and a regular season that produced multiple awards for Andover.
Andover High Principal Jimmy D'Andrea posted on X on Oct. 10 that the Golden Warrior Marching Band "won Best Music, Best Visual and Best Overall Effect in the competition at North Andover HS this evening." That competition was a NESBA fall event hosted at North Andover High.
Separately, the AHS Tri-M music honor society posted on Instagram on Oct. 5 that the band won first place, Best Music, Best Visual and Best Overall Effect at an earlier NESBA event.
D'Andrea shared video on Instagram on Oct. 24 from what he called "the final regular season competition at Wakefield HS." In the same post, he described the band's preparation since August.
The NESBA Finals begin at 11 a.m. at Harvard Stadium, 79 N. Harvard St. in Allston. According to the published performance schedule, North Andover takes the field at 3:30 p.m. and Andover follows at 3:56 p.m. The NESBA homepage bills the venue as a new home for the finals.
Andover's program has been climbing. A marching arts database lists the band finishing sixth in Division 5 at the 2024 NESBA Finals and third in Division 4 in 2025 with a score of 91.670 and a Best Visual award. The band is now listed in Division III for the 2026 finals, though NESBA has not confirmed whether that reflects a reclassification.
The band is also running its annual wreath sale through Nov. 7, according to the town of Andover's event calendar. Proceeds fund instruments, equipment, uniforms and truck rentals. Orders are available at andoverbands.com/wreaths.
