Last Fall, the Winter Springs High School Band of Gold received some exciting news; they were invited to participate in 2017’s London New Year’s Day Parade (LNYDP). With the date of departure, December 27^th, rapidly approaching, anticipation is running high within the band.

Senior Sandy Lee, field commander of the band, says “I’m so excited that the band has accomplished this amazing recognition. I can’t wait to explore the sights and make memories with the people I adore most.”

The LNYDP is a world-renowned parade and will feature a total of about 8,000 performers, with an estimated crowd of 500,000 this year. The route of the travels through the heart of London, beginning at the Green Park Tube state and ending at Parliament Square. If not familiar with the geography of London, England, this means the WSHS band will be marching past historical monuments such as Big Ben come January 1^st, 2017. The 2017 parade is the 31^st of its kind, and the theme for the year is “Lights, Camera, Action.”

Because of this theme, band director Adam McIntyre has chosen for the Band of Gold to perform selections from “Beetlejuice” and the “Wind and the Lion” in the parade. “Beetlejuice” was the opener for the Danny Elfman marching show of 2014, and the “Wind and the Lion” is the opener for this year’s show, Sands of Time.

The Band of Gold is definitely taking advantage of this “trip of a lifetime,” as Mr. McIntyre describes it, sending 94 out of the 150 members of the band, seven of whom are actually alumni who either attended Winter Springs last year when the band was first invited to the parade, or are older siblings of current band members who are tagging along.

Since this announcement, the band has been working tirelessly to make the trip affordable for as many as possible through fundraising opportunities. Although the majority of the fundraisers are no longer open for donations due to the ever-approaching date of departure, the biggest way Winter Springs students can support the Band of Gold is by looking out for WSHS on New Year’s Day in the London parade.

Although the parade will not be aired on the average American television channels such as NBC or CBS, Winter Springs students can catch the parade come New Year’s Day on the BBC News channel, or a livestream of the event can be found online with a quick Google search of the “London New Year’s Day Parade.”

Last Fall, the Winter Springs High School Band of Gold received some exciting news; they were invited to participate in 2017’s London New Year’s Day Parade (LNYDP). With the date of departure, December 27^th, rapidly approaching, anticipation is running high within the band.

Senior Sandy Lee, field commander of the band, says “I’m so excited that the band has accomplished this amazing recognition. I can’t wait to explore the sights and make memories with the people I adore most.”

The LNYDP is a world-renowned parade and will feature a total of about 8,000 performers, with an estimated crowd of 500,000 this year. The route of the travels through the heart of London, beginning at the Green Park Tube state and ending at Parliament Square. If not familiar with the geography of London, England, this means the WSHS band will be marching past historical monuments such as Big Ben come January 1^st, 2017. The 2017 parade is the 31^st of its kind, and the theme for the year is “Lights, Camera, Action.”

Because of this theme, band director Adam McIntyre has chosen for the Band of Gold to perform selections from “Beetlejuice” and the “Wind and the Lion” in the parade. “Beetlejuice” was the opener for the Danny Elfman marching show of 2014, and the “Wind and the Lion” is the opener for this year’s show, Sands of Time.

The Band of Gold is definitely taking advantage of this “trip of a lifetime,” as Mr. McIntyre describes it, sending 94 out of the 150 members of the band, seven of whom are actually alumni who either attended Winter Springs last year when the band was first invited to the parade, or are older siblings of current band members who are tagging along.

Since this announcement, the band has been working tirelessly to make the trip affordable for as many as possible through fundraising opportunities. Although the majority of the fundraisers are no longer open for donations due to the ever-approaching date of departure, the biggest way Winter Springs students can support the Band of Gold is by looking out for WSHS on New Year’s Day in the London parade.

Although the parade will not be aired on the average American television channels such as NBC or CBS, Winter Springs students can catch the parade come New Year’s Day on the BBC News channel, or a livestream of the event can be found online with a quick Google search of the “London New Year’s Day Parade.”