The Newtown Marching Band & Color Guard fall season is underway following the unit’s August 13 to 24 band camp.

Band and color guard students, in seventh to twelfth grade, found their rhythm during the two-week band camp, which had practices run up to 11 hours a day. Participants rehearsed with a focus on music and marching.

Last year, the Marching Band & Guard earned the National Championship trophy for its division for the first time in its history at the USBands Open Class National Championships at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

The 2018 show, titled “The Climb,” includes exploring different levels of height with the use of staircases and finding deeper emotions. The theme focuses on the underlying fear that people may fail in their lives, but if they are persistent, motivated, and driven, they can accomplish anything they put their minds to.

Upcoming band and guard events include a “Friday Night Under the Lights” event scheduled for August 24 at the Newtown High School Blue & Gold stadium starting at 7 pm, which will offer members of the public a first look at this season’s marching band.

Other upcoming events this season include the marching band and guard participating in Newtown’s Labor Day Parade, and it has scheduled its annual 100 Family Tag Sale for Saturday, September 22, at NHS. The annual Joseph P. Grasso Marching Band Festival home show is scheduled for Saturday, September 29, and weekly band and guard competitions begin on September 8. This year’s national championship competition is slated for November 10 at MetLife Stadium.