Current:Home > ContactMacy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will be led by HBCU marching band this year -Keystone Capital Education
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will be led by HBCU marching band this year
View
Date:2025-04-12 14:28:46
About 256 students from Alabama A&M University's Marching Maroon and White will lead the pack in the 97th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The students and Director of University Bands Carlton Wright will travel over 900 miles by bus to perform in the parade, held annually in New York City.
The Dancin' Divas, an auxiliary unit of the marching band will also be featured in a special performance with the famous Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, according to an announcement by the university, one of 107 Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the U.S.
The achievement, comes two years after Wright saw marching bands from the University of Alabama and Hampton University, his own alma mater, perform in the parade – an experience that got Wright thinking about what it would take to get his students to perform in the parade.
“I went to my laptop and visited the Macy’s website and I found the application on there. Right away, I just started typing in the application on Thanksgiving morning two years ago,” Wright shared with USA Today.
The application process was incredibly lengthy, as Wright compiled entries, letters of recommendation, videos, recordings over a six week period. Wright didn’t get the call that they had been selected until February of 2022.
The music, formations, marching sequence have been drilled into the students over the last couple months since they only have 75 seconds to complete the performance from start to finish.
They have had the students do the repetitions until they feel like robots from doing it so much, Wright said. The students have expressed excitement over the performance, but Wright is feeling more nervous than anything.
“It's just like everything is coming to reality now for me. From the beginning process, like I spoke about earlier: Filling out the application, going through the process, flying to New York a couple times to have meetings up there. And it's really real now. So, we’re excited about that and a little bit nervous as well … But one we get started on the first step of the parade; we will be okay.”
Here’s what we know.
Alabama A&M University:What is an HBCU? Everything you need to know about historically Black colleges or universities
How does it feel to be selected to perform in the 2023 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade?
Its a full-circle moment, said Wright, who also attended Alabama A&M.
“I am a graduate of this program and we never got a chance to do anything like this when I was here playing in the band as a student. But now I get to be able to help provide this opportunity for our students,” Wright said.
Students who have never been to New York before will be able to learn from and enjoy the educational activities planned on this trip in addition to marching in the parade, Wright said.
“Its a great reward for our students to be able to attend this parade because they’ve worked hard to raise the funds for the past two years. To end this semester and this marching band season on a high note like this is wonderful,” Wright said.
It might be another couple of years before you see the Marching Maroon and White perform in the Macy’s Day Parade again.
Wright has his sights set on his students marching in the Tournament of Roses Parade, an annual parade held in Pasadena, Calif in the next couple of years.
Official lineup:Cher to headline Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: See all the performers
Where can I watch the 2023 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade?
Marching Maroon and White, among many other performers will hit NYC streets 77th Street and Central Park West on Thursday, Nov. 23, early Thanksgiving morning.
The parade is set to start at 8:30 a.m. ET, about thirty minutes later than usual, and end by 12:00 p.m. ET, according to Reviewed by USA Today.
Today hosts Hoda Kotb, Savannah Guthrie and Al Roker will offer commentary on this year’s procession, as performers and floats march the 2 1/2-mile route, according to Today.
Everyone will head down Central Park West to Columbus Circle, before turning onto Central Park South and then marching down 6th Avenue, Today reported. At 34th Street, the parade will make its final turn west and end at 7th Avenue in front of Macy’s iconic Herald Square flagship location, according to Today.
The parade will be broadcasted live on NBC but can also be streamed on Peacock the day of.
Holiday dinner:Struggling with what to bring to Thanksgiving dinner? These tips can keep the host happy.
veryGood! (57549)
Related
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- 3D-printed homes level up with a 2-story house in Houston
- Britney Spears' memoir The Woman in Me gets release date
- Inside Clean Energy: Coronavirus May Mean Halt to Global Solar Gains—For Now
- Arkansas State Police probe death of woman found after officer
- All the Stars Who Have Weighed In on the Ozempic Craze
- Global Efforts to Adapt to the Impacts of Climate Are Lagging as Much as Efforts to Slow Emissions
- Kate Spade's Massive Extra 40% Off Sale Has a $248 Tote Bag for $82 & More Amazing Deals
- McKinsey to pay $650 million after advising opioid maker on how to 'turbocharge' sales
- How Comedian Matt Rife Captured the Heart of TikTok—And Hot Mom Christina
Ranking
- 'Most Whopper
- Covid-19 and Climate Change Will Remain Inextricably Linked, Thanks to the Parallels (and the Denial)
- Q&A: A Republican Congressman Hopes to Spread a New GOP Engagement on Climate from Washington, D.C. to Glasgow
- Warming Trends: Stories of a Warming Sea, Spotless Dragonflies and Bad News for Shark Week
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- Bridgerton Unveils First Look at Penelope and Colin’s Glow Up in “Scandalous” Season 3
- Are you struggling to pay off credit card debt? Tell us what hurdles you are facing
- How Comedian Matt Rife Captured the Heart of TikTok—And Hot Mom Christina
Recommendation
House passes bill to add 66 new federal judgeships, but prospects murky after Biden veto threat
Untangling Exactly What Happened to Pregnant Olympian Tori Bowie
Tom Brady Shares His and Ex Gisele Bundchen's Parenting Game Plan
Check Out the Most Surprising Celeb Transformations of the Week
California DMV apologizes for license plate that some say mocks Oct. 7 attack on Israel
Kate Spade's Massive Extra 40% Off Sale Has a $248 Tote Bag for $82 & More Amazing Deals
Ice Dam Bursts Threaten to Increase Sunny Day Floods as Hotter Temperatures Melt Glaciers
Elizabeth Holmes could serve less time behind bars than her 11-year sentence