Ninety-Two Bands Over Two Days
The Bands of America Indianapolis Super Regional Championship runs October 16 and 17, 2026 at Lucas Oil Stadium. The venue lists more than 90 high school marching bands from 10 states.
Music for All publishes the running order band by band. Its participating-bands list carries an update date of September 22, 2026. Friday carries 60 bands, from a 7:00 AM first step-off to a 10:45 PM last slot. Preliminary competition ends at 11:00 PM.
Saturday carries 32 bands from 7:00 AM through the 3:00 PM slot. Ball State University performs in exhibition at 3:15 PM, and awards follow at 3:30 PM.
Four Breaks on Friday, One on Saturday
Music for All publishes four Friday breaks, each at a panel change: 10:15 AM, 1:30 PM, 4:45 PM and 8:00 PM. Competition resumes at 10:30 AM, 1:45 PM, 5:00 PM and 8:15 PM. The field sits empty for 30 minutes between the last band of a panel and the first band of the next.
Saturday carries one break, at 12:15 PM, with competition resuming at 12:30 PM.
A family in the stands sits through four of those Friday gaps. The gaps total two hours.
Saturday Clears the Field Before Finals
Saturday prelims end with the 3:00 PM slot. Music for All states the stadium is cleared after the prelims awards and reopened for finals, and that concessions close during the dinner break between prelims and finals.
Finals takes 14 bands. The five highest scorers in each of the two prelims judging panels advance, plus the next four highest scorers across both panels. A Class Champion outside that group performs in exhibition. Finalists draw their performance order on site.
Music for All publishes the finals clock. Gates open at 6:00 PM, the national anthem is at 6:30 PM, the first finalist performs at 7:00 PM, finals competition ends at 10:30 PM and the finale and awards run at 10:45 PM. A seat held from the prelims awards through the finale spans more than seven hours.
The Stadium Rules on Food
Lucas Oil Stadium prohibits guests from bringing in food and beverage, with an exception for guests who have special medical or dietary needs. The stadium states it cannot store guests' medications, food or beverages. Its prohibited-items list names food not dispensed by Lucas Oil Stadium concessionaires.
More than 160 permanent and portable concession stands operate inside the building. Every stand is cashless. Credit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay all work.
Music for All states that any feeding of band students must be in the designated Picnic Area, and directs directors to the Final Packet documents for its location. Its logistics page states that no picnic area operates at this event, and it recommends the Circle Center Mall food court and the Arts Garden.
Parking and the Walk Downtown
Lucas Oil Stadium sits at 500 South Capitol Avenue. Parking runs in the LOS South Lot through Gates 6 and 7 at $25 on a first-come, first-served basis. Denison Parking operates nearly 2,000 spaces in the lots around the stadium, with reservations through ParkWhiz.com. Downtown Indianapolis holds more than 70,000 parking spaces.
Downtown holds 7,100 hotel rooms. 4,700 of them connect to the Indiana Convention Center by skywalk. 200 restaurants sit within walking distance.
Covering the Gaps
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The platform lists 103,857+ hotels across 46 states, states 30 to 75 percent off nightly rates, and charges no booking fee. Its day-use page puts rates at 40 to 60 percent less than the overnight figure. Dayuse reports an average day-room price of $87.43 in Indianapolis, with free cancellation until the last minute and payment at the hotel.
Engine data put the Indianapolis nightly average at $134 in October, against a city average of $128. The figure comes from 1.2M public rate observations from May 2024 to April 2026, taken from searches made 10 to 180 days before check-in.
Matching Slots to the Schedule
Friday's 10:15 AM break sits inside the Morning window. The 1:30 PM and 4:45 PM breaks sit inside the Afternoon window, and the 8:00 PM break sits inside the Evening window. A family staying for Saturday prelims and finals needs the Afternoon window and part of the Evening.
A day-use room provides a shower, a bed and a desk across those hours. hotelSlots lists Wi-Fi and shower access among the amenities on a day-use booking.
Book the window before the event weekend. The platform sells unsold daytime inventory, and the arrival and departure times printed on the listing are the times that apply. Confirm amenities on the specific property listing before you commit.
