Bands of America Grand Nationals runs November 12-14, 2026 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The venue counts nearly 100 high school marching bands from across the country.
Every competing and exhibition band that uses hotel rooms must book them through the Bands of America Housing Bureau. The same policy binds booster groups. The policy document defines a booster group as a group of parents or boosters who consolidate and make collective hotel sleeping room arrangements. Bands that violate the policy will not be permitted to perform and forfeit all enrollment fees.
The May 15 Preference Form
The Grand Nationals Housing Preference Form is due from every participating band, including bands that do not need hotel rooms because they are staying at a school or driving in and out for the event. Forms submitted on or before May 15 at 11:59 p.m. EST receive priority placement. Rooming lists are not due at that point. The form asks for the number of rooms the group anticipates needing, plus rooms for the family and friends travelling with the band.
The bureau, cmcglobal, contacts a group within seven business days of receiving the form to acknowledge receipt and make an assignment or report status. Bands still unplaced receive an update on or before June 15. Music for All targets completion of on-time assignments by August 1.
After September 1 the bureau releases remaining unused or unneeded rooms under contract to Music for All for individual booking. The Housing Bureau Administrator makes each release. Individual enquiries go to housing@musicforall.org.
Downtown and Suburban Properties
Downtown rooms carry the higher price point, and downtown availability moves with band demand plus other group and individual business. Suburban properties price lower and hold fewer room types, so a large group may be split between two neighbouring hotels or asked to be flexible on room type. The hardest groups to place are those staying a single night.
Two published lines decide the choice for a band travelling with buses and a truck. All downtown hotels, full-service or select-service, charge for parking. Suburban properties generally have room for buses and trucks at little to no additional cost. Downtown hotels cannot take buses, will charge for overnight vehicle parking, and may sit further from their parking than a suburban property does.
Music for All states that every band enters the show flow the same way, whatever the weather. In Indianapolis the connector tunnel is closed as a point of entry for performance flow.
Bus and Truck Parking
Buses and equipment trucks need a BOA parking pass for all events. The lots carry no eating, warm-up or stretching, and BOA provides no bus driver hospitality areas.
Performance parking enters the South Lot of Lucas Oil Stadium through Gate 10 off McCarty Street. The earliest a vehicle may enter is two hours before the performance on the prelims schedule. Vehicles must exit the South Lot one hour and 15 minutes after the performance start unless the schedule states otherwise. Parking outside a performance window is available at IFA Event Lot 650, 542 Abbott Street, reached from West Street and a short walk from the stadium with band re-entry at the South Gate. The South Lot allows no overnight parking. Vehicles may stay overnight at IFA Event Lot 650 and must depart by 6:00 a.m. Sunday.
The Three Days
Preliminary performances run Thursday November 12 and Friday November 13. Prelims awards take place on Friday night as a drum majors ceremony, and the Finalist Directors Meeting that follows carries the semi-finals schedule. A Friday band therefore learns its Saturday session on Friday night.
Semi-Finals and Finals run Saturday November 14. Each band completes the Pre-Draw for Finals when it checks in. Band check-in sits inside the southeast entrance on the main concourse and opens 30 minutes after the first parking lot arrival time. Each competing band receives 31 credentials for adults working with the band: six laminate name badges and 25 field passes, included in the registration fee, with up to 10 more available for purchase 30 days before the event. Bus and truck driver wristbands are issued one to every vehicle listed on the parking pass request form.
Rooming Lists and Cancellations
Once a hotel is finalised, the bureau sends a booking authorization form and then connects the group with its hotel contact. Rooming lists go from the band to that contact and are due 45 days before arrival. For a November 12 check-in that date is September 28, for November 13 it is September 29, and for November 14 it is September 30. The bureau supplies a rooming list template, and additions are allowed until the event while the hotel holds availability.
A group may cancel rooms at any time before 45 days from arrival. Reducing a block by more than 20 percent can incur a penalty. Hotel policies vary by property, so the terms come from the Housing Bureau Administrator. An entire booking cancels through cmcglobal. Cancelling individual rooms inside a block depends on the property, with a rule of thumb of at least 72 hours before arrival.
Rates
The bureau publishes no nightly rate for the Indianapolis group blocks. It points groups to a Housing Guide for hotel options, price, location, amenities and availability, and the housing page states that the 2026 documents are still being updated. The administrator is Nolan Cummings at cmcglobal on 317-635-4755 or housing@musicforall.org.
Engine's Indianapolis index reads $128 a night across 1.2 million public rate observations from May 2024 to April 2026. November reads $122, five percent below the city average, and the index places Indianapolis 39th of 50 markets at 14 percent below the 50-market median of $148. Those are the cheapest publicly available prices at the time of each search, observed 10 to 180 days before check-in, and they are not group rates.
Outside a Band Block
Music for All states that no individual attending a Bands of America event has to use the Housing Bureau, and that bureau rooms may carry better pricing with limited availability downtown. Families and fans travelling separately can price a November 12 to 14 stay directly. hotelhuddle.com sends one free request to 50 or more Indianapolis hotels and returns responses in 24 to 72 hours. The platform publishes a $0 markup, leaves payment with the hotel, and states that hotels pay it a commission when a booking is made.