Battle of the Bands, an annual parent band competition, will be held at Kanza Hall on Saturday Jan. 28 at 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. The event is centered around 4 parent bands representing different Blue Valley schools. The winning band will receive a $250 grant to give to their Blue Valley school of choice.

Mad Libby is scheduled to represent Blue Valley Northwest this year. Jennifer Roswold, the lead vocalist and guitar player, is the mother of BVNW sophomore Zoe Roswold.

Jennifer said her band has been together for five years and is releasing an EP this summer, titled “Locks Unlocked.”

Roswold said her band will be playing a mix of covers and originals on Saturday.

“We’re excited to play,” Roswold said. “You are going to see a really energetic performance. We really like to entertain and we are going to try to get everyone involved and interacting.”

Zoe said she is excited for the competition on Saturday and she is bringing some of her friends.

“[Her band is] pretty cool,” Zoe said. “She is always writing songs around the house. She’s constantly focused on her band so it’s pretty weird.”

Roswold said she found out about the event though emails.

“I saw emails about [Battle of the Bands],” Roswold said. “Last year I saw it and I knew it was too late for us to enter. I made sure that I got in early this year.”

Cindy McAlister, the business manager for the Blue Valley Educational Foundation, said in an email that the competition was started by BVNW feeder parent, Stacy Obringer-Varhall, when Obringer-Varhall pitched the idea to the BVEF Community Relations Committee.

McAlister said there was a similar band competition for students in past years, but was canceled because some students engaged in vandalization and fights during the event.

“We have not found another alternative [to the student competition],” McAlister said. “We’d like to, but we haven’t found another alternative for that.”

McAlister said the event has averaged around 450 attendees in previous years and the bands are judged by the audience members.

“It is a popularity contest, so bands encourage their friends, family and neighbors to watch them and vote,” McAlister said.

Roswold said if her band wins, she will give the grant to BVNW.

“We would like to see Blue Valley Northwest get the fundraising money,” Roswold said. “[People] need to come out and vote for Mad Libby.”

McAlister said there will be a mystery raffle and a live auction during the competition, with five concert packages for sale. The concert packages include Ariana Grande, Brantley Gilbert, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Justin Moore and Beautiful The Carole King Musical