The Fairmont Marching Firebirds will host their first BOA (Bands of America) competition Saturday, Oct. 2, at Roush Stadium. The gates open at 9 a.m., and the stadium will be cleared at 11 p.m.  

The Marching Firebirds compete in class AAAA and will be judged on a number of items, including music performance, visual performance, general visual effect and general music effect.

Thirty bands will compete in the preliminary round of the competition, and the finals will contain the 10 top-scoring bands from the preliminary round. Tickets for each round are $14 each, and an all-day pass is $22. Discount tickets are available: Tickets for children 10 and under are free, and tickets for students between the ages of 11 and 18 are $7. There are additional price deductions for senior citizens, college students and military (with military ID).

For more information, call the Fairmont Music Department at 499-2647.