Heritage Festivals – A History of Innovation
1980 Heritage Festivals founded.
1982 Heritage creates 5-star adjudication process that creates a standardized adjudication panel for festivals, including on-stage performances and mini-clinics, 3 outstanding choral and instrumental adjudicators at each festival, written and taped comments, awards, and first-class accommodations at each festival.
1984 Heritage Festivals establishes Bowl Games of America, providing exclusive opportunities for high school bands to perform in college football bowl game halftime shows while also enjoying a music festival experience.
1987 The Bands on Parade division is added, creating additional opportunities for marching bands to participate in national parades.
1990s Throughout the 1990s, Bowl Games of America adds numerous special events and international performance opportunities such as professional football games, World Cup soccer, the Super Bowl, and World Series baseball games.
1990 BGA Performance is established, providing exclusive opportunities for dance groups to perform in college football game halftime shows and parades.
1992 Heritage Festivals produces its first international performance tour in Austria, England, and Italy.
1994
Our Festival of Gold invitational successfully debuts at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. The Festival of Gold is an annual national series of choral and instrumental festivals for groups that have demonstrated a Superior or Gold performing level.
1994 Sky’s the Limit is founded, producing exciting events for sports teams and other sports events across the country.
1995 Heritage Festivals launches its first international festival in London at the Royal Academy of Music.
1999 In 1999, Heritage Festivals became a part of WorldStrides, the leader in the educational student travel industry. By becoming a member of the WorldStrides family, Heritage Festivals has allied itself with more than 35 years of travel coordination experience, the most successful safety record, and the most comprehensive insurance package in the industry.
1999 Heritage Festivals establishes its Children’s Choir division, providing opportunities for children to perform and improve their skills in amazing venues around the world.
2004 Heritage Festivals celebrates its 25th anniversary as your partner in music education.
2005 Heritage Festivals establishes its Classic Format, providing a non-competitive festival format with extended stage time and adjudication.
2006 Heritage Festivals launches its Professional Development Program for educators, allowing music directors who participate in our programs to earn points toward recertification.
2007 Heritage Festivals expands its education program to develop the opportunity for high school students to earn one-semester of performing arts credit through their participation in a festival and completion of online coursework.
2008 Heritage Festivals joins forces with Field Studies, an organization that has provided students with the phenomenal opportunity to perform in Carnegie Hall since 1991.This partnership now allows groups traveling with Heritage Festivals the opportunity to perform at this celebrated venue.