On Friday morning, FUHSD superintendent Polly Bove sent an email notifying all parents of the cancellation of the Tournament of Bands, which was scheduled to be hosted today at Cupertino High School.

With the ongoing wildfires that began last Sunday night in the Napa and Sonoma counties, the resulting heavy smoke and soots has caused a decline in air quality. Reports predicted a level of 161 on the Air Quality Index (AQI) on Friday — comparable to the air quality in Beijing, China.

The Bay Area Smoke Advisory issued a smoke advisory to the Bay Area, forcing some schools to cancel classes, sports practices, football games and band activities. Consequently, the district saw it prudent to cancel Cupertino’s Tournament of Bands to protect the health of its students, parents and participants.

Money raised through the Tournament of Bands funds the majority of our school band’s excursions. Plans for rescheduling the event are uncertain; sources say that at this point it will be difficult to re-coordinate with the eighteen schools scheduled to perform this weekend.

In the past, Cupertino’s marching band has raised over $20,000 from hosting the event. Cancelling the Tournament of Bands, as a result, has prompted the band to find alternative forms of fundraising to compensate for their loss.

Said band director Gilbert Iruegas, “We’ve received reassurances from the district that they’ll look into [the issue] and see how they can support us so that the impact is minimized.”

Nevertheless, Iruegas remains optimistic. “This is what we love to do, so [although] losing rehearsals and performances aren’t fun, we will hopefully be back to business at our Tuesday rehearsal.”