``Pep Banned`` PremiereCome one, come all
The Pep Band documentary will premiere at the Virginia Film Festival (VAFF) in Charlottesville, October 2025. For more information on the festival showing or to purchase tickets, please visit the VAFF website:
Pep Banned...The MovieThe Rise and the Fall of the Virginia Pep Band
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One crisp fall day, the University of Virginia Pep Band, also known as “The Award-Winning University of Virginia Fighting Cavaliers, Indoor/Outdoor, Precision? Marching Pep Band and Chowder Society-Revue, Unlimited!” was in the middle of its typical scrambling halftime show. The announcer interrupted the performance with the following:
Would the owner of ten thousand dollars in small, unmarked, non-sequential bills, wrapped in rubber bands, please report to the ticket office. We have your rubber bands.
The band formed a dollar sign and played, “For the Love of Money.”
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The Band Played OnHumor, Music, and Controversy
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For twenty-eight years, this was the format for entertaining the football crowd at halftime. From jabs at other teams to political commentary to insults about various cafeterias on the Grounds of the university, the Pep Band’s goal was to entertain and address current events around Charlottesville, the nation, and throughout the world.
In 1977, the band ran into its first major controversy when playing at the University of Maryland. As a nod to the news of imprisoned governor Marvin Mandel, a band member came out onto the field at halftime to direct the band in a striped outfit while carrying a ball and chain. He was replaced by a new “acting” director named after the acting governor of Maryland. The fans cheered the performance but the real acting governor, Blair Lee, was not amused–and made his concerns known. Subsequently, the UVA athletic department’s reviews of the band’s scripts took on a new level of significance. Yet, the band played on.
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Ah, the Virginia Pep Band. There’s an organization that has withstood more adversity than any band in the nation—and they’re still standing tall. They rush in where athletic departments fear to tread.
-Jefferson-Pilot TV announcer, at the 1995 ACC Tournament
Too Good To LastA Banned Band
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Despite the controversy, the band played on.
Over the course of its lifetime, the Pep Band was loved by the students, envied by other bands, tolerated by the administration, and disliked by others. Ultimately, the band was disbanded and prohibited from performing at university events. The movie Pep Banned is a story that must be told. It takes the audience on a fun ride and explores the ups and downs of this hilariously historic student-run organization. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, it will be better than Cats.
Hopefully, a lot better.
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