Gateway partners with a variety of festivals and competitions that musical groups can participate in. The Limerick International Band Festival is held every March in Limerick City, Ireland. They have bands and choral groups come from many different countries to compete. Gateway also sponsors the Youth in Marching marching band festival that is held every October in Minnesota. This has become one of the premiere marching band competitions in the Midwest, growing from nine to 20 groups over the last seven years.
Parades are sometimes the highlight of a festival that Gateway might send you to. The Limerick festival organizers also hold a marching band parade for St. Patrick's day which usually coincides with the weekend the festival is held. Gateway also helps send bands to St. Patrick's day parades in cities as varied as Chicago, Honolulu and Dublin. Another parade that Gateway can help you get into is the National Cherry Blossom parade which is held in Washington DC at the end of March through the beginning of April.
Many of the college football bowl games that are held at the end of the year also have parades that Gateway helps to provide bands for. The Champs Sports Bowl is held in early January in Orlando, Fla. Not only do the bands get a chance to perform with the marching bands of the schools that are playing in the bowls but there is also the option of letting your kids go to Disney World if they so desire. One of the more famous bowl game parades is the Tournament of Roses Parade, held in conjunction with the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. This televised event is held on New Year's Day every year.
Gateway also sends bands overseas to perform for sports enthusiasts in other countries. The GE Challenge bowl, held in Kawasaki, Japan, pits some of America's best high school football talent against Japan's top high school teams.They also have American marching bands perform at halftime. The Vienna Charity bowl has the Vienna Vikings play against top American collegiate programs to raise money for youth organizations. Bands perform at halftime and also at a pregame pep rally. There is also the Paris All-Star Basketball game which hosts the best French basketball players. The organizers of this game like to get dance groups and pep bands to come play for the French audience.