The National Battle of the Marching Bands, also known as the Honda Battle of the Bands, is an annual event in which marching bands from universities come to showcase their talents. The name of the event is a bit of a misnomer, because the event merely highlights marching bands and the bands do not really compete against each other.
According to Marching, Honda Battle of the Bands showcases marching bands from universities that fall into the HBCU category--i.e., historically black colleges and universities. This does not mean that schools with a current high percentage of Caucasians or other ethnicities cannot participate, but rather that the schools must have traditionally educated a majority of African Americans.
Around 50 universities typically enter the Honda Battle of the Bands. Marching reports that directors and school presidents from HBCU institutions evaluate each of the bands based on how they play, the impression they give (showmanship), and how much the crowd becomes involved in their performance. Online votes also play a role in how the university marching bans fare. The Honda Battle of the Bands board then invites the top schools (usually no more than 10) from those who have entered to perform at the Honda Battle of the Bands national showcase.
The Honda Battle of the Bands began in recognition that HBCU schools desperately needed support for their music education programs. Hip Hop Press and Marching thus explain that the Honda Battle of the Bands board treats the event very much like a scholarship program. The board provides $1,000 to each school whose application the board accepts and makes it to through the entire review process, with an additional $20,000 to the finalists who perform at the showcase. The event also hosts a scholarship for film music production, as well as a recruitment fair.
The Honda Battle of the Bands typically takes place in January. This date accommodates the fact that the bands have had time to hone their performances during the previous fall marching band season and gives the judges time to review applications.
The Honda Battle of the Bands is not just for "band geeks," because it features top-notch entertainers outside the marching band genre. For instance, Hip Hop Press and Marching both report that, for the 2010 showcase at the Georgia Dome, the Honda Battle of the Bands featured Christopher Brian Bridges (better known as Ludacris), a prominent actor and hip-hop/rap musician.