May is arguably the busiest time of the school year: With countless final projects, sports competitions and AP exams that many students tackle, it becomes difficult to squeeze in the Festival of Arts at Branson on top of everything else.
Considering that all of these important, time consuming events happen in May, you might wonder, why doesn’t Branson schedule FAB earlier in the year?
While FAB immediately preceded AP exams this school year, this may have actually been the best time to hold FAB, as scheduling it slightly earlier or later would not give students enough time to prepare, while potentially conflicting with final assessments and sports playoffs.
In recent years, Branson has removed all of their AP classes from the curriculum, leading to a decrease in the number of Branson students taking these exams.
In addition to being deprioritized in Branson’s academic curriculum, Branson cannot control when students must take AP exams. From 2021 to 2025, the two weeks of annual AP testing have all occurred between May 1 and May 17. This makes FAB even more difficult to schedule around AP exams.
While these exams are undoubtedly important for some Branson students, Branson as a whole seems to have prioritized other end-of-school-year markers, including academic finals and sports playoff competitions. However, all of these take place during and after AP exams, making a later FAB nearly impossible to schedule.
The option to schedule FAB earlier was a possibility that the arts department has thoroughly considered. However, there is a lot of preparation involved in making sure that FAB is successful, which makes pulling it off earlier especially difficult, since classes wouldn’t have the necessary time to prepare for such a showcase.
Moreover, the community also has to prepare the performing spaces. For example, the outdoor amphitheatre must be entirely converted into a music performance area complete with amps, drums, keys and even a xylophone, which must all be carried down more than 30 steps.
All of this is to say that FAB requires a lot of time and energy to assemble, and with 80 percent of the student body being involved in the arts department, according to Branson’s website, there are a lot of pieces that need to fall into place. With that being said, FAB is one of, if not the best event of the school year; Branson is so privileged to be able to put on and experience two days of amazing performances.
As Branson gazes into the following years, it would be devastating if this incredible event was forced to happen with minimal preparation or during the peak of Branson’s academic and athletic season — already the most stressful time of year. After all, students work tirelessly to deliver an incredible show, and they deserve the time and space to shine.
