Anderson has the longest consecutive streak of appearances at Band Day dating to 1955.  Wabash has participated every year since 1974 and Jay County has participated every year since 1977.  Richmond first participated in 1958 and has missed only 2 Band Days since then (1984 and 1997).

To celebrate the State Fair's centennial, the band contest was moved from the fairgrounds to North Meridian Street in downtown Indianapolis in 1952.  The contest was again held near the World War Memorial building in 1953 before returning permanently to the dirt track in front of the grandstand in 1954.

In the beginning, 20 - 30 bands participated.  The contest grew from 39 bands in 1951 to 83 bands in 1955.  In 1962, the contest reached its peak with 107 band registered and 94 bands actually performing.  School consolidations first caused the number of competing bands to decrease.  The new All-State Marching Band fall field contest in 1973 further affected the number of bands competing at Band Day.  Initially, many bands competed in both formats, but some bands later dropped Band Day as the field shows became more intricate and complex.  In 2007, 19 of the 48 bands at Band Day competed in both formats.   The 2007 contest featured 48 bands (the highest number since 1974).

Music for the early contests consisted almost entirely of conventional marching songs.  There was a rule that no band could take a backward step.  Although there wasn't any time limit, there wasn't much to do except march straight past the grandstand.  As late as the mid-1950s, a lot of bands just marched by the grandstand to a drum beat.  Their directors brought their band for a day at the fair.

Odon-Madison was the first band to do anything besides straight marching.  They did a right flanking movement and then a left flanking movement to straighten up.  The judges were so impressed, they were awarded the championship.

Today, most bands spend the entire summer or more preparing for Band Day.  In comparison, Noblesville spent only 13 days preparing their 1952 championship program.

Early on, bands could be disqualified for exceeding the time limit.  Among other bands, this affected Elwood in 1959 and Anderson in 1961.  After Anderson was disqualified for what would have been a 4th place finish, the rule was changed the next year to provide for a 10 point over-time limit penalty instead of disqualification.

Prior to 1967, the contest did not have a prelims/finals format.  In the debut of Finals in 1967, there were supposed to be 15 bands.  However, Madison Heights was initially left out of finals due to a scoring error.  Rather than eliminating a band, 16 bands were allowed to compete in finals and the "Sweet Sixteen" was born.

Ben Davis' 300 member unit won 2nd place at the 1970 Band Day contest just two months after winning first place in the World Music Festival at Kerkrade, Holland.

Highlights from 1977 included New Castle Chrysler's majorettes performing a Rockette-style routine, Muncie Southside bringing a "whole show" concept, Martinsville providing something for everyone with cowgirls, a sophisticated dance routine, and pie-in-the-face comedy, Delta performing a sunburst movement, Wapahani's finale featuring a large balloon that turned into a John Bull flag, Pike performing a medley from "West Side Story," Southmont performing a wooden soldier routine, and Jay County's show preceded by a tricorn flag honor guard.

Wapahani was sometimes known for having everything but the kitchen sink in their show.  In 1979, they added a new twist with a fire extinguisher and a drum synthesizer.

In 1983, the Noblesville bass drum line literally went head-over-heels during their performance.  They also featured a portable stage with dancing girls in their 1983 and 1984 shows.

 In 2000, Wabash built an old Western town complete with cacti to compliment music including The Promise of Living, The Magnificent Seven, and Silverado.

Special effects have always been part of Band Day, although it was always necessary to make sure they fit in with the theme of the show.  Over the years, there have been dancing Gumbys, frisbees, balloons, parachutes, confetti, flashbulbs, aliens, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, gigantic flags, and 25-foot mural painted fans.  For many years, Southmont wore two-color reversible capes which turned and changed colored as the band made sharp lefts and rights.  One year, Madison Heights glued large white bunny tails to the backsides of the entire tuba section.

The year 2004 saw possibly the largest prop ever used at Band Day.  Richmond's "Pirates of the Caribbean" show featured a giant ship that was used for entry of part of the band at the beginning of the show, strobe light and fog effects, costume changes, as well as instrument soloists, a vocalist, and guard work on top of the ship.

At one time, though, costume changes were controversial.  Many years ago Richmond changed from red pants in the morning to white pants for finals.  Some people complained they were "changing their show" from prelims to finals - a no-no at the time.  In recent years, though, it has been accepted that bands can change their uniforms from prelims to night.  Martinsville used this effect in their 1993 Danny Elfman show when they changed from traditional band uniforms in prelims to special black outfits at night to add effect to their "Music for a Darkened Theater" program.

In recent years, shows of a more serious and sophisticated nature of have been featured on the track, but the wild and crazy shows are still a part of Band Day.  No band has done this better than Concord with their Superman costumes, grass skirts, and other fun outfits and shows over the years.

The scoring system changed in 1989 when the contest began using new scoring sheets and the Central States Judging Association.

Prior to 1995, all bands began their performance at the start line to the left of the grandstand and had to clear the track within the 6-minutes time limit.  Beginning in 1995, bands were given 2 minutes to set-up and warm-up in the middle of the performance area and an additional minute to clear the track.  Hash marks were also added to the track.  Nearly all bands begin their show in the middle of the performance area.  The time limit has also expanded over the years from 3 minutes to 6 minutes.

Franklin Central is the only band to win four championships in a row.  Only four bands have won three championships in a row - Anderson in 1957 - 1959; Wapahani in 1981 - 1983; Monroe Central in 1989 - 1991, and Muncie Southside in 2002 - 2004.

Anderson Highland is the first band to win in 3 different decades (1968, 1970, 1971, 2005, 2007).

Centerville has won the most small band titles (8).

Jay County has been a finalist every year since they began competing in 1977.  Out of the 31 years of competition, Jay County has now finished in the top five 25 times.

The second longest current finalist streak belongs to Concord, dating back to 1988.  The third longest current finalist streak belongs to Hagerstown, dating back to 1994.

The longest finalist streak belongs to Anderson (1967 - 2001).  They also placed among the Top 10 bands from 1955 through 1972 (except for 1961, when they were disqualified).  In 2007, they celebrated their 53rd consecutive year at Band Day.

Art Conner has participated in Band Day as the director at Wabash dating to 1974, the longest streak of all current head directors.

Chuck Reynolds has placed Muncie Southside among the Top 2 bands in his 7 trips to Band Day as their director.  His bands won 5 championships.

Several directors have won the Band Day title with two different bands.  Doug Fletcher is the first director to win the title with three different bands (Monroe Central in 1989, 1990, 1991, Winchester in 1997, and Anderson Highland in 2005 and 2007).  He ties Raymond Hauser Jr. (Franklin Central in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999) with 6 Band Day titles.  Hal Meurer won 5 titles (Vincennes Lincoln 1955 and 1962 and Ben Davis in 1964, 1966, and 1967).  He also lead Jasper to a Top 5 placing in 1952.

Doug Fletcher has also won the most small band titles (7) with Monroe Central in 1989, 1990, 1991, and Winchester in 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998.  In 1996, Winchester was classified as a large band.

Madison County's success at Band Day is unparalleled.  Four bands account for 12 championships (Anderson, Anderson Highland, Anderson Madison Heights, and Alexandria-Monroe).   As a side note, the Indiana Legislature named Madison County "Band Capital of Indiana" in 1971.  Participation by Madison County bands has varied since the late 1980s, but in 2007 Madison County was once again represented by 6 bands (Anderson, Anderson Highland, Elwood, Frankton, Lapel, and Pendleton Heights).

In recent years, Wayne County has challenged Madison County's dominance as the track band capital of Indiana.  Since 1998, Wayne County has been represented in finals by 4 bands (Centerville, Hagerstown, Northeastern, and Richmond).  In 2006, all 4 bands placed among the Top 8 bands.  In 2002, Lincoln joined the contest and, since that year, all 5 Wayne County high schools have participated.

Rain has often been a factor in the Band Day contest.  In 1984, preliminary competition was delayed many hours because of rain, which caused the finals competition to go late into the night.  Occasionally, the preliminary contest has been delayed an hour or two while the wet track has been prepared for competition.  In 1991, the contest was delayed mid-way due to lightening in the area.  To date, 1995 is the only year finals has been cancelled due to rain.   2005 saw a brief rain delay during prelims, but once the clouds moved out of the way, it was clear sailing for the rest of the contest.

The year 2007 saw first time participation by Borden, Eastern Greene, and Speedway High Schools.  It also saw the return of several bands that had been away from the contest for decades (Muncie Central - 1957; Elwood - 1980; Yorktown - 1977

WPGW Radio in Portland has broadcast all of the state fair competition, day and sweet sixteen, for the past 29 years.  Louie Disinger, from WHBU in Anderson, fed them the broadcast for the first 8 years, and Rob Weaver of WPGW have been making the trip to Indianapolis for the last 20.  They have also done most of the Central Indiana Track Association contests on the radio for the past 20 years.  Besides the state fair, they have done contests at the Jay County Fair, Delaware County Fair, Winchester Speedway, the old fairgrounds in downtown Anderson, the Anderson Speedway, Hoosier Park, the Anderson High School football field (formerly Madison Heights), and the Muncie South contest held at the Muncie Central football field.  It is a privilege for them to support this positive activity for youth by broadcasting these contests on the radio and encouraging the public to support the band and attend their contests.  They have also held a radio-thon to help raise money for new instruments for the Marching Patriots.  They did another radio-thon to help raise money for new uniforms for the Marching Patriots.