Heart-pounding excitement and nervous jitters are setting in for the Woodland High School Marching Band as students prepare for “The Greatest Event in the Greatest City in the World” – the London New Year’s Day Parade and Festival.
Practices are complete, student instruments and equipment are set to be shipped “across the pond” in two short days, and students and staff depart for London December 26, 2022. They will fly home on January 2.
“We are absolutely delighted that the Woodland High School Marching Band will be coming to London to help celebrate the New Year in style,” said Parade Director Joe Bone. “London has fallen in love with the marching band culture of the USA and our ears on the ground alerted us as to just how brilliant the Wildcats are. They will receive the warmest of welcomes from an enormous audience on the street – and tens of millions watching around the World.”
The Woodland High School Marching Band will join about 10,000 performers from 28 countries around the World. However, only 24 marching bands from the United States were invited to perform after a rigorous audition more than a year ago.
During the parade, the Wildcats will play Georgia On My Mind arranged by Michael Brown, An American Christmas arranged by Robert W. Smith, and Crazy Train by London’s Ozzy Osborne.
In addition to performing down London’s historic two-mile parade route, students will experience other tourist attractions, like Buckingham Palace, River Thames, and the Golden Hinde – the first English ship to circumnavigate the globe in the 15th century.
The globally renowned street spectacular will be streamed online January 1, 2023, at www.lnydp.com and aired on PBS starting at 7 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Support your nationally recognized, award-winning Wildcats by tuning in to watch this historic event!