For the second year in a row Mankato Area 77 Lancers emerged victorious from the Albert Lea Festival of Bands.

The Lancers won the class four A competition and the people’s choice awards along with the auxiliary, brass, woodwind, and on-line championships. The Park Center band took the only remaining non-class category as percussion champions.

&uot;Mankato is a great band to watch,&uot; said committee member Ron Freeman. &uot;Its just an incredible program.&uot;

Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunberg was the champion in single-A competition. Class AA champions were Winona Cotter, and Red Wing came out on top of the AAA competition. Crowd favorites Mankato Area 77 edged out Park Center

by .7 points in the class AAAA race.

Competition organizer Dick Hench appreciated the cleanliness of parade attendees, &uot;on the whole route, there was only one spot with even a significant amount of litter.&uot;

Organizers said though attendance might have been down from last year’s festival, it was still large considering all the other activities taking place Sunday.

Spectators lined the streets as the host Albert Lea Tigers made their way down Broadway to lead off the festival. The Marching Tigers celebrated their 90th anniversary as Minnesota’s first high-school marching band. As the host band, the Tigers did not compete.

The complete list of results from the festival:

Class A: 59.9 Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunberg, 50.7 Lake City, 46.4 New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva.

Class AA: 60.2 Winona Cotter, 47 Zumbrota-Mazeppa, 45.7 United South Central.

Class AAA: 64.4 Red Wing, 62 Henry Sibley, 50.4 St. Michael-Albertville.

Class AAAA: 70.9 Mankato Area 77 Lancers, 70.2 Park Center, 66.4 Osseo.