Every year, 32 million people watch the Macy’s Day Parade through a streaming service or within the streets of New York City. The Macy’s Day Parade is held on Thanksgiving and thousands of people march down the streets on floats, guiding balloons or performing musical and theatrical talents. This has been a tradition since 1924, making this the 98th year of the annual parade- missing out on 1942-1944 due to shortages from World War II.
The parade begins by marching down Central Park West to West 59th Street, then east to 6th Avenue and finishes where Macy’s headquarters is located. In total, each act marches for a distance of two and half miles, lasting a total of three and a half hours. The parade begins at 8:30 a.m. EST with actress Alison Brie cutting the ribbon to start the festivities and will end at 12 p.m. EST with Santa on a float ringing in the spirit of Christmas.
This year the LHS Patriot Marching Band has the opportunity to march yet again. They have appeared in the parade three times, first making their attendance in 1994, 2000, then again in 2008. In the spring of 2023, the band accepted their 4th invitation to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Since their performance in 1994, the band has maintained high membership of around 300 participants through the 2024 season. Each year, the band correlates the theme of the show with the event. Their show in 2000 being, “Strike Up the Band,” in 2008, “Don’t Rain on My Parade” and this year with a show titled, “New York, New York” / “Empire State of Mind” featuring songs such as, “Toxic” by Brittany Spears, “Gravity” by Sara Bareilles and many more New York inspired songs.
Throughout the parade, the band will perform “America North” or “America the Beautiful” in various locations. They will perform four or five times before their performance on the star and four more times after that performance. Before the parade, the band will get a 10-minute rehearsal to clean up any loose ends they may have before they perform.
The band also plans to participate in New York activities including a visit to the World Trade Center and the 9/11 memorial. In addition, they will see the Statue of Liberty and members of the marching band will also be attending a Broadway show titled, “Back to the Future”. The band will perform in a concert in Central Park where they will perform once again, “America North.” Finalizing their trip, the band will embark on a cruise ship on the Hudson River where they will eat their Thanksgiving meal and end their night with a celebration of their hard work.
The marching band season would usually end after their final competition in Saint Louis, MO; but, this year they have continued practice after school in preparation for the parade. A typical practice during the regular season for the marching band consists of building fundamentals and growing in the skills necessary to compete. Because of Macy’s, the band has had to alter their rehearsals to better equip them for such a large performance. Many band members are not used to the endurance alone to play their instrument and march 2.5 miles.
“[The entire parade] is 2.5 miles, so getting everybody’s endurance level up to play for that long [is vital]. But also, being able to move and be athletic enough for that long [requires a substantial amount of skill],” said marching band director, Drew Balta.
Budgeting alone for Macy’s has been nothing short of time-consuming and difficult.
“The cost that every kid pays is $1,710. That’s the most that the district can allow, or the most that the district will allow us to charge kids. So, it actually costs about $2,000 per kid to go, so that’s all the money that needed to be raised by the band parents,” said Balta.
To raise the necessary amount of money for the trip, band members worked numerous jobs throughout the summer and regular season. Many of these jobs were concessions at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center and LHS home games. Other fundraising opportunities have been a car raffle, where they sold a 2024 Mitsubishi Outlander SE and a mattress sale.
When it comes to travel, many members of the band and guard have never traveled outside the state of South Dakota, other than for competitions. Hence why making the trek on a bus to the Macy’s Day Parade is a big leap of faith for many students. The anticipation had the band directors and students patiently waiting for the day to come when they would leave and begin their travels.
“[I’m just excited for] all the memories that they’re gonna make along the way and I get to watch them experience it firsthand,” said Balta.
