NORWICH – Community members are invited to cheer on the Norwich Purple Tornado Field Band as they host their last competition Saturday night before competing at the Syracuse Carrier Dome next Sunday.

The Field Band hopes to draw a big crowd at this year’s annual Fall Festival of the Bands when they perform to their theme “Seize the Day,” based on Disney’s 1992 musical “Newsies.” The Field Band has been working on their performance since mid-July, spending numerous nights rehearsing at the high school.

The band has seen a growth in numbers this year, bringing excitement and vigor to every competition. Jamie Carrier, who is nearing the end of her first year as the band’s director, said she’s been more than pleased with this year’s group.

“Their performance exceeded anything I expected,” said Carrier. “We had a lot of incoming students this year ... they have met my expectations time and time again.”

So far, their performance this year have given them second and third place finishings at other competitions. The 64 band members hope to win over judges this weekend as they will compete against seven other schools, some traveling from as far away as the Schenectady area to perform.

“They’re a really young band, but they’ve worked hard and they’ve shown a lot of progress,” said band member parent Ellen Cohen.