HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — It's almost the new year, and students in Huntsville High School's band and will be spending it in London, marching in the annual London New Year's Day parade. More than 200 band members, families, and staff are making the trip across the pond, along with more than 200 pieces of equipment.
"We are proud to represent both Huntsville City Schools and the city of Huntsville," HHS Band Director Stuart Tankesley says. "We are not only excited to perform, but we are excited to experience British culture."
One of the pieces they'll be playing? Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer".
Before the big day, students will see historic sites like Big Ben, Parliament, the Tower of London, Windsor Castle, and the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. But it won't all be history. They'll also visit the London Eye, a massive observation wheel on the Thames River overlooking London, and the West End theatre district.
If you want to watch the parade, plan to get up early. It will be shown on PBS stations across the country beginning at 6:00 a.m. CST on New Year's Day. Huntsville High's band is number 5 in the lineup.
Follow their journey on the band's Facebook page.
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.
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."