The Iowa Municipal Band Festival was born on a cool summer evening in 1991 when Ted Erickson, a long-time musician and teacher in the Boone school system, and Dave Richardson, then the high school band director, began discussing band festivals after a concert by the Boone Municipal Band.  The more they discussed the possibility of a municipal band festival, the more excited they became.  Within weeks they had formed a committee of volunteers, all of whom, with one exception, still make up the committee today.  The original committee was Dave Richardson, Ted Erickson, Dalene O'Brien, Larry Moeller, Tom Mowen, Marilyn Goeldner and George Eckstein.

Five bands were included in the first Iowa Municipal Band Festival in July of 1992.  They were Ames, Hampton, Newton, Marshalltown and Boone.  The following year seven bands performed.  Since year three, a full slate of eight bands or more bands have entertained the audience at what has now become established as the Iowa Municipal Band Festival.  The festival has truly become a state wide festival with 31 communities represented since 1991.  The festival has welcomed a band from Zumbrota, Minnesota as well as the Blaskapelle Muhlhausen group from Germany over the last few years as well.

Boone’s Herman Park Pavilion is the ideal setting for the festival.  Concerts are held in the pavilion, which was donated to the city of Boone by the Herman family in 1917.  The pavilion provides protection for musicians and spectators alike in the event of inclement weather.   The Herman Park Pavilion was immortalized in 1994, when Frank Piersol was commissioned to write the “Pavilion March”.  Mr. Piersol conducted the premier performance at the 1994 festival.  This march has become a favorite of not only the Boone Municipal Band and their fans but has sold well to other bands across the country.

The Iowa Municipal Band Festival has truly become a one-of-a-kind celebration of band music.  During this one day each year, musicians representing their communities have an opportunity to perform to a wonderful audience in a non-competitive performance that continues the century old tradition of community band music in Iowa.