The Megaband is an all volunteer (i.e. unpaid) contra dance band open to musicians at any level of experience on any acoustic instrument. Ability levels range from beginner to professional musician; all are equally welcome. We have been in existence since 1996. Every year, we play a Portland Country Dance Community benefit contra dance on the second Saturday of March. In addition to that, we play a contra dance slot at the Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle every other year. Every time we have played, it has gone very well–the dancers have loved it, and we musicians have had a blast. So far, we have always been able to achieve a cohesive, tight sound. The first time we played, there were 25 of us. In March 2019, we had 75 musicians and nearly 500 dancers! The band is organized and directed by Erik Weberg and me (Sue Songer). If you want to listen to recent sound clips of the band, you can find them on YouTube.com or Facebook by searching under Portland Megaband 2019.