INDIANAPOLIS — Fairfield, NorthWood, Concord, Goshen, Northridge and Penn‘s marching bands are heading to the state finals.

The six local bands placed in the top 10 in their classes at the semistate contests Saturday earning them a spot in the Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) state finals next Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Elkhart Central also competed at semistate Saturday but did not qualify to continue on in ISSMA competition.

Fairfield Director Andrew Muth said that the Marching Falcon Pride’s performance Saturday was outstanding.

“We had a game changing performance,” he said. “It was a turning point in our season.”

Wind during performances and chilly weather, especially during early Saturday morning practices, posed some challenges, according to a few local directors. That kind of weather could continue to bring challenges to this week’s practices. State finals, though, are inside Lucas Oil Stadium where the weather won’t be an issue.

“As always, it was a long day,” Concord Band Director Scott Spradling said, “but it ended up being a good day.”

Goshen Director Tom Cox also said that the band had a good day, mentioning that the students, especially the freshmen who haven’t performed in Lucas Oil Stadium before, are very excited for next Saturday’s experience.

The six bands headed to state had to advance through district, regional and Saturday’s semistate competition to move on. Local class B bands — Concord, Elkhart Central, Goshen and Northridge — competed Saturday at Pike High School, while local class C bands — Fairfield and NorthWood — competed at Decatur Central High School. Class A bands, including Penn, competed at Ben Davis High School.

Last year, Concord, Goshen and Fairfield were the three Elkhart County bands to head to state, with Concord taking first in class B in the state finals competition, Goshen earning fifth place in class B and Fairfield earning ninth place in class C.