Carnival Cruise Lines and KHOU 11 Announce 'Battle of the High School Marching Bands' Competition in Houston

HOUSTON, Sept. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The search is on for the most spirited band in Houston! Carnival Cruise Lines, Texas' largest cruise operator, is partnering with CBS affiliate KHOU 11 for "The Battle of the High School Marching Bands" competition in Greater Houston. The fun contest celebrates the musical talent of local area students. All schools that participate will receive a donation to their school’s music program from Carnival and the chance to be named “The Most Spirited High School Marching Band in Houston.”

For the next three weeks, high school marching bands in the greater Houston area are invited to showcase their school spirit and musical talent in a video in which they perform their school's fight song, alma mater or original piece of music. The video must be three minutes or less, identify the name of the school and reference "The Battle of the High School Marching Bands" contest.  Bands can upload their video to YouTube, and email the link to their performance to [email protected] as their submission. Contest entry form and details can be found at www.khou.com/features. The deadline for entry is Sunday, September 28, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. CDT. Carnival will select five finalists based on sound, musical ability and style.

“Carnival is truly excited to provide this fun and unique opportunity to Houston-area high school students to show off their musical talent and win money for their school,” said Jim Berra, chief marketing officer for Carnival Cruise Lines. “We are strong believers in supporting our homeport communities and Houston is our number one source market for our cruises from Galveston which currently carry more than 475,000 guests a year.  With the addition of a third year-round ship in 2015, that number is expected to increase to more than 600,000, making Galveston our second largest homeport,” Berra added.

Beginning October 13, fans can rally around the KHOU 11 Facebook page (www.facebook.com/KHOU11) and vote for their favorite band out of the five finalists, up to one time per day through October 22. Viewers can tune into KHOU 11 "News in the Morning" the week of October 27 to learn which local band was named “The Most Spirited High School Marching Band in Houston.” The winning band will also perform on the show. A $10,000 cash award from Carnival Cruise Lines will be evenly distributed to the music program of each school that enters.

Carnival is the cruise line leader in Texas with two ships, Carnival Magic and Carnival Triumph, sailing year-round from Galveston, Texas. Starting in February 2015, Carnival Freedom -- which recently underwent an extensive multi-million dollar transformation -- will be the third year-round "Fun Ship" to homeport in Galveston.  

Guests can learn more about Carnival cruise vacations from Texas by contacting their travel agent or visiting www.carnival.com.

Carnival can also be found on:
Twitter: www.twitter.com/carnivalcruise 
Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/carnival 
YouTube:  www.youtube.com/carnival
Journalists also can visit Carnival's media site, www.carnival-news.com or follow the line's PR department on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CarnivalPR.

About Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival, a unit of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), is "The World's Most Popular Cruise Line®" with 24 ships operating three- to 16-day voyages to The Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, New England, Bermuda, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.  The company's 25th ship, the 135,000-ton Carnival Vista, is scheduled to enter service in 2016.

SOURCE Carnival Cruise Lines