Selma High School Marching Saints will host their annual Central Alabama Battle of the Bands on Saturday morning at Memorial Stadium.

The competition, which starts at 11 a.m., will feature 23 different bands, mostly from around the state. Stillman College and Talladega College will be the guest college bands in this year’s competition.

Selma High School Band Director Brandon Williams said there’s a reason why the event is called “Alabama’s largest traditional marching band competition.”

“I’m blessed and honored the high school band directors trust our competition,” Williams said.  “This competition was created to allow schools to showcase what they work hard on during the summer. It was created for schools in the black belt region to showcase their hard work and dedication.”

Bands will be judged on several different categories, including drum majors, percussion, majorettes, flag line, dance line and the band.

“The judges are well respected and come from different ethnic backgrounds,” Williams said. “They have judged all over the state. What we do different from other competitions is have video and audio comments from the judges. Band directors get to hear what the judges think about a performance. We judge you on what you do well and how you do your job.”

Tickets are $10 at the gate. Children 10 and younger are $5.