AUBURN – Lewiston and Auburn will roll out the red carpet for marching bands from eight Maine schools Saturday, Sept. 22. The 17th annual Twin Cities Marching Band Show – featuring hundreds of students performing music, percussion groups and color guard ensembles – will be held at 6 p.m. at Walton Field, Mary Carroll Street.

High schools represented are Wells, Lawrence, South Portland, Biddeford, Leavitt, Old Orchard Beach, Westbrook and Edward Little.

Edward Little’s Red Eddies Marching Band, directed by Jen Fortin, will present music from Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” The show includes solo performances by Nathan Titus on alto sax, Bruce Hunt on trombone and Max Bullett on flute.

Leavitt’s marching band, under the direction of William Buzza, will perform “An Irish Party,” with solos by Kate McKeown on piccolo and penny whistle and Dustin Harrison trumpet.

The music of Gershwin with a show titled “Bright Lights, Big City” will be performed by the Blue Blazes Marching Band of Westbrook. The 2007 Tiger Marching Band from Biddeford will present music inspired by Cirque du Soleil.

The 17th Annual Twin Cities Marching Band Show is a collaboration presented by the Lewiston High School Music Boosters and Edward Little’s Music Association, which coordinates volunteers and the logistics of running the event, food concessions, selling 50/50 tickets, parking, and moving equipment onto the field.

The Twin Cities Marching Band Show is one of six events held at different high schools on Saturdays in September and October, culminating in a final presentation at Sanford High School.

The shows are organized by the Maine Band Directors Association, which arranges for judges to evaluate the bands’ performances on music, visual effects, general effect, percussion, color guard and drum majors.

The show will be held rain or shine. In the event of rain, it will be held in the Edward Little gymnasium. Admission is $5. Food concessions will be available.

For more information, contact Andy Titus, president of the Edward Little Music Association, at 240-7902.