Music, friendship and ice cream will be shared in a festival where people can experience concerts reminiscent of simpler times.

The 14th Annual Iowa Municipal Band Festival will bring together community bands from the Midwest in an all-day event on Saturday.

Michael Golemo, associate professor of music and Ames Municipal Band Director, says municipal bands date back to the 1800s, when local townspeople would meet together to make their own entertainment.

“The Boone Municipal band has been around for somewhere close to a hundred years,” says Dave Richardson, Boone Municipal Band director.

The festival also celebrates Iowa’s past traditions.

“Municipal bands are very unique to Iowa,” Golemo says. “This festival is a celebration of the band tradition in Iowa.” Richardson says he also enjoys the uniqueness of the festival.

“This is the only municipal band festival in Iowa and one of the few in the Midwest,” he says.

The bands will perform in Boone at the Herman Park Pavilion. The pavilion provides shelter for the bands without losing the feeling of being in the open air, says Ted Erickson, Boone Municipal Band member.

“The festival is very old-fashioned,” he says.

Erickson says since its first festival in 1992, the event has grown, but most aspects have remained the same.

Richardson says even though the event is noncompetitive, every band wants to play to the best of their ability.

“The bands play many different kinds of music,” Erickson says.

Marches, jazz and big band music are a few of the genres the bands will perform.

New friendships are also formed at the festivals.

“I’ve become friends with a number of members and directors of other bands that came to the festival,” Richardson says. “People meet new people and get a chance to listen to the concerts.”

Erickson says 1,500 to 2,000 people are expected to attend the event.

In the past, the festival has attracted bands from as far as Germany. This year, the festival is held in June instead of July because the Boone Municipal Band will be performing in a festival in Neustadt, Germany.

“We’re returning the favor,” Erickson said.

Erickson says he’s also excited about the Bunny Band performing for the first time in public at this year’s Iowa Municipal Band Festival. Composed of band directors from several different Midwest states, the Bunny Band has met for about 30 years to record historic European band music.

Eight different bands are scheduled to perform separate 45 minute concerts, and admission is free.

The festival will be held rain or shine, and Erickson says participants should bring their own lawn chairs.