After their last performance in 2018, Homestead marching band will perform at the highly prestigious Rose Parade again this year, drum major, senior Linda Chang said. The parade, which takes place on Jan. 1, 2025 in Anaheim, California, will attract millions of viewers nationwide, Chang said.
After applying for a position at the event two years prior, the band was admitted to the parade for their good marching technique, musicality and overall talent, Chang said.
The Rose Parade is highly selective, evaluating bands from all over the world before granting admissions, band director John Burn said.
“Being in the Rose Parade means a lot to me,” Burn said. “It’s the biggest audience a high school marching band can have, and it’s very hard to get accepted.”
Baritone, freshman Swarnima Gupta said she feels fortunate to attend one of the few schools that perform at the parade.
“What excites me most is that it’s something not all schools get to do,” Gupta said. “It’s a rare opportunity, and it’s something that happens occasionally, so it makes it more special. I [will] take things more seriously and put all my hard work into it.”
Instead of stopping practice at the end of marching band season before the Thanksgiving state competition, Burn said the band will continue to practice through December. During this time, Burn said the band will keep rehearsing and improving their stamina to perform the five-mile parade.
“There are 750,000 people in the audience [who] all want to hear the band play,” Burn said. “We have to work up our endurance to be able to look and sound good for over an hour of performing.”
After attending band camp, Gupta said she learned marching band is less of a music class and more of a sport.
“Right now, the music is simple, but it’s more physical,” Gupta said. “[I’m] understanding how concepts work and there’s more elements than I would have expected.”
The band is working hard to prepare for the event, Burn said, as every member is talented and passionate.
“There’s so much energy [and] enthusiasm [within the band],” Burn said. “They rehearse really well most of the time and they perform really well all the time.”
Because practice starts early in the summer, every band member gets a head start in preparing for the huge event, Chang said. Everyone is learning how to march due to the parade’s high standards for technique, Chang said, even those who do not traditionally march.
“Everyone needs to contribute and that brings people into it, [making] everyone want the band to do well,” Chang said. “[The event] brings a sense of community, [since] we all have to put an effort into making this go well.”
Although every band member contributes to the team in their roles, Chang said she has a large responsibility to the band as a drum major in the field’s front.
“I’m very high profile to other band members,” Chang said. “I would be one that they would follow, so it’s my job to set the best possible example for them to do well.”
After more than three decades leading the marching band to numerous accomplishments, Burn said the entire marching band is preparing enthusiastically for the parade.
“It’s a great honor for [HHS] to get to do this again,” Burn said. “It worked out really nicely that I get to end my career with such a big parade.”
