PitCrew: NSBA / Kearney

NSBA – West Festival – Kearney High School

2026 info below is being updated. Check back for new updates.

2026:

NSBA Kearney will be on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026.

Click and Print: NSBA 2026 Parking and Pit Area Map (instructions and full sheet maps) | Pit & Parking Schedule

For our KHS Pit Crew:

The Band will have an 11:00 am – 12:00 pm rehearsal on the KHS field. They plan to do a full run-through of the show soon after 11:30 am. You as a Pit Crew volunteer are invited to come to the KHS field and watch this run-through of the show from the stadium. You have been on the field most or all of the marching season, and this is an opportunity for the Pit Crew to watch the show from the stands. Weather permitting, we may be able to go on top of the field house and watch from there. Join us.

By 7:30 pm please report to the Band room so that by no later than 8:30 we can start and help push equipment to the staging area by the main entrance of the school.  We need to have everything at the Pit Staging Area at the South end by 8:45 pm, ready to go, so we can go on deck at 9:00, and perform at 9:15 pm.  After the performance we will ‘park’ our equipment at the Southwest corner of the track.

After UNK performs, let’s have some fun. We will participate and have fun with Pit Crew Olympics.  We need to bring several Kearney teams to the Olympics.  This is a fun time to cheer on our guests and enjoy the Olympics together with pit crews from other schools. UNK performs at 9:30 before the Pit Olympics, and the Awards are at 10:00 pm after the Olympics.

Remember to wear BLUE to support our Band.

Also, remember that we represent KHS Band, KBPA, KHS and the city of Kearney as we host this event.  Help us make our guests feel welcome and help them enjoy their visit.  This is a great event for us to host.

Thank you for all of your help this year.  We appreciate each and every one of you who have helped on the Pit Crew team, if it was for every event or for just one night, you are appreciated very much! 

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Event Pit and Parking Volunteers: (and anyone else who can help outdoors)

We will do setup outside starting when the sun comes up on Saturday morning. We need to be ready early enough that you can have a break before the bands arrive. We also want everyone to be able to see the Band’s run-through at about 11:30 am. The setup check list and map is at the bottom of this page. Both KHS gators will be in the bus parking lot. The KHS golf cart will be in the Pit area. The 2 UNK golf carts will be assigned that day. Complete instructions for the day on how parking and pit area runs are listed below on the site plan maps, or click here: Parking and Pit Area Map.

After awards we cleanup and help get our equipment back to the Band room and we pick up and put in trailer 1 the following: all KBPA orange cones and blue stanchions, yard line markers, pennant rope, yard signs, vinyl signs and steel posts, parking stanchions and handicap parking. Let’s also pull all KPD barricades and cones off the road and pile them in one place by a west entrance. The plan then is for whoever can help to meet back at the school on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 pm to reorganize all of this and load the trailer back up of off-season storage – this should take only an hour, and it lets us get home earlier on Saturday night after a full day of hosting the event. Your help is appreciated.

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Click and Print: NSBA 2026 Pit Area Schedule (full page)

Click and Print: NSBA 2026 Parking and Pit Area Map and directions.

NSBA 2026 Site Plan:

NSBA Pit Area Plan:

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Pit Crew Olympics

Each school may form as many teams as they desire, but team members may not participate on multiple teams. Teams are made up of 4 or 5 members of Pit Crew volunteers. Be prepared to carry, push, setup, stack, and run to match the best time. Most of all, have fun!

Previous Pit Crew Olympics Champions

Click & Print PitCrew Olympics Setup.

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Date: October 24, 2026
Subject: Street Closure for Nebraska State Bandmasters Event

The City of Kearney, on behalf of Kearney High School Band, would like to inform the public of a street closure scheduled for Saturday, October 26, 2024.

Closure Details:

• Location: 30th Avenue on the west side of Kearney High School
• Time: 12:00 PM to 10:00 PM
• Affected Area: 30th Avenue from 11th Street to the southwest entrance of the West KHS parking lot

During this time, there will be significant bus traffic in the west parking lot and along 30th Avenue, as well as increased foot traffic from students and attendees of the Nebraska State Bandmasters event. The West KHS parking lot will also be closed from 12:00 am to 11:00 pm on Saturday, October 26, 2024.

Motorist Advisory:
Due to the expected heavy traffic volume, we encourage all motorists to seek alternate routes to avoid delays. Many buses and out of town guests will be in the Kearney High School area for this event. Your cooperation is appreciated as we support this important event for the participating students and their communities.

Thank you for your understanding and patience.

For any questions or concerns, please contact the City of Kearney office

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Setup Checklist

1. May need to get Horse panels from Fairgrounds (pick up Thurs or Fri evening) – need a pin as it is a farm hitch (no ball). **
2. KSD 4 x 3-bar barricades – 2 at North entrance, 2 at South entrance – will be moved to northbound lanes once event starts and remove after event is finished
3. KSD 6 sawhorse barricades – blocking bus entrance, bus exit and enter/exit to pit area
4. KSD cones – use as needed at each street entrance/exit
5. All three types of barricades need to be set in place by 5:50 am. Note license plate and permit numbers of any vehicles still on the lot and report to LeFeber/Mitchell by 8:00 am so we can give them the option to come get their vehicles by 9:30 am or be towed.
6. Horse Panels (or Stanchions and Pennant Rope) – go from front spectator door on south side over to North fence of field
7. Vinyl signs – 1 at NW corner intersection, 1 at east entrance (Spectators), 1 for Overflow parking, 1 east of east entrance, 1 by the big K doors – 2 steel posts per sign plus zip ties (avoid water lines) (10 steel posts total) – need post driver from Trailer1
8. Tall Orange cones – blocking north warmup areas – 2 in each entrance –
   use 4 stanchions with pennant rope to mark line between warmup area A & B
9. 4 stanchions in ‘No Parking’ Area in front of Spectator entrance – attach ‘No Parking’ signs
10. Park Theatre trailer2 to the south of sidewalk to West entrance of Commons for the band Escorts to use
11. Install the Feather Flag by the west door for the guest bands entrance for restroom/concessions/stadium access
12. Move the small trailer from the performing band entrance to the gym. If possible, move this to the SW gym corner sidewalk
13. Mount the Welcome / Entrance sign near the main entrance by the big K door on the east side main entrance.
14. Put west yard signs up: Bus Entrance – 1 at entrance, 1 across the street. Bus Exit – 2 at south end of lanes, Pit Truck/Trailers entrance, Judges&Hosts parking, Shuttle pickup/dropoff
15. Put east yard signs up: Spectator Entrance signs – leading to east front door
16. Football field: move black track mats – fold them and drag them under the stadium to keep the entrances open
17. Carefully remove the watering setup – move it to under the stadium
18. Unhook hoses and move them out of walkway – remove the tripping hazard
19. Move benches and tables off the east and west sides of the field
20. Short Travel Cones: 1 at Pit On-Deck entrance, 1 at Staging line, 4 on south endzone to cover the cables (trip hazard), 4 on north endzone to cover cables (mark trip hazard)
21. Make sure restroom in track shed are open/unlocked
22. Make sure the NE stadium gate is unlocked (leave it closed when approaching start of the event)
23. Park Trailer1 by the Pit Area. (Hosts/Judges lot? or on West side of South fence)
24. Gators/Golfcarts: 2 Bearcat Gators on west side for parking, 1 Bearcat Golfcart on east side for Pit Area, 2 UNK golf carts 1 on east, 1 on west side. IF we get an extra golfcart/gator/side-by-side, then the west golf cart can be used by the volunteer support person
25. Park Stelling Brass (Jeff Stelling) in the loading dock area **
26. Park the Photographer in the Hosts / Judges lot on the west side of the PAW.
27. Park the Coffee vendor on the west commons sidewalk near the west commons door **
28. Park the 911 Ambulance at by the North side of the field, by the sidewalk – this will give them easy access and exit from the area
    
    ** = NSBA only / Not BMF. Click and Print: Outdoor Setup

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2024 maps: