Newcomer Alexandria lived up to the hype at the 2003 Festival of Bands, taking the grand championship away from two-time defending champion Mankato.

The fourth-annual festival included 15 competing bands, plus the Albert Lea Marching Tigers, who marched in exhibition, and honor band SuFuDu.

&uot;The weather was just fantastic and the bands seemed so happy to be here,&uot; said festival organizer Jan Hench. &uot;The crowd was great. It’s so hard to estimate, but I would guess that it was bigger than last year.&uot; She guessed the crowd may have reached 16 or 17,000 for the downtown event.

Alexandria, known statewide as a marching-band powerhouse, got the judges’ nod in class AAAA with an 83.8 score, edging Mankato, which scored an even 83.

In class AAA, Waconia was the winner with a score of 82.5; Winona Cotter won in class AA with 66.5; and Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg was first in class A at 69.9.

Other bands from the area who competed were New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva, which scored 53.7 in class A; Owatonna, which took third in class AAAA with a 71.8; and Fairmont, which scored 50 in class AA.

Complete results are available at www.festivalofbands.org.

With the Eddie Cochran Weekend also taking place, as well as Borderfest in Emmons, a centennial celebration in Walters and Father’s Day Sunday, the band festival was part of a lively weekend in the area.

&uot;It was just a great day in Albert Lea,&uot; Hench said.