HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Huntsville High School hosted local officials and UK dignitaries to invite the Huntsville High School band to perform in London's New Year's Day parade & festival in 2024.
Chair and founder of the event, Bob Bone, accompanied by Steve Summers, Chair of The London Mayors’ Association, which represents all of London’s civic mayoralties (past and present), presented a formal parade invitation to the 160 member Huntsville High School Marching Panther Band, their directors, dignitaries and Huntsville High students’ families.
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Out of thousands of schools, Huntsville High School was selected to take part and Bob Bone, chairman of the parade says the band is "brilliant"
"We chose a Huntsville High School band to come because they are brilliant and how do we know they're brilliant well we've got spies," Bone stated. "They give us a list of names every year of schools colleges whose bands deserve invitation, and Huntsville has come out on top of that list for many many years running now.
The parade sees more than 8,000 performers from all corners of the globe and entertains a street audience of around 500,000 – and a global TV and streaming audience of tens of millions. The 2024 event will be one of the biggest in the event’s history, which spans five decades (1980s -2020s) and will be screened worldwide including the USA on the PBS Network. It will also give the students like Gabriella Millar, an opportunity to experience a different culture.
"London is such a pretty city", Millar stated. "I've seen it in my parents pictures and online and I love London it's such a great city with so much culture and I'm so excited to be able to just go out and see the wonders of the world."