Earlier this year the Winter Springs High School band director, Adam McIntyre, received some unbelievable news for the Band of Gold. The band has been invited to perform in the 2017 New Year’s Day parade in London, England.

“We are honored and delighted to be selected for the London New Year’s Day Parade,” said Mr. McIntyre, “We are excited to represent our school and community on an international level.”

The London New Year’s Day Parade (LNYDP) is a world-renowned event, and receives millions of spectators internationally every year since institutionalized in 1987. This year, street spectators for the parade hit roughly 650,000 with an extra 300 million globally who accessed it through other media platforms. The parade has been named the largest of its kind in the world, and the route is a two-mile long trek through the heart of London. Come January 1st, 2017, the WSHS Band of Gold will be marching in this parade near iconic locations such as Trafalgar Square and Big Ben.

This is obviously an exciting time and preparation for the trip has already begun. In fact, on Monday, September 28th the Former Lord Mayor of Westminster, Councillor Robert Davis travelled all the way from London to deliver a formal invitation to the Band of Gold. The band performed the first two songs of their halftime show for the British visitor, and after a speech about how the LNYDP is the greatest in the world, Councillor Davis officially asked the Band of Gold to attend the parade with a framed invitation given to Mr. McIntyre. After the presentation in the auditorium, there was a reception held in the cafeteria to give band students a chance to meet Councillor Davis. Taking advantage of this opportunity, most students asked for selfies.

Unfortunately, there are still 15 months to wait before the actual date in 2017; therefore, anticipation for this event will be long withheld, but people are already beginning to work together to make this trip possible. Obviously, the logistics of shipping 200 band students and chaperones plus instruments and uniforms is a massive undertaking. Everyone from band parents to members of the community are pitching in to help.

Although the task of planning this expedition is huge, another aspect is even more challenging: fundraising. As one may expect, it costs quite a bit of money to go to London, and it costs even more money to have an entire band go to London. However, the Band of Gold is determined to overcome this obstacle. As of right now, students are sending letters to their friends and family to fundraise money individually, and around Thanksgiving time band students will be selling pies around school. Opportunities are also available for corporate sponsors to donate, and the WSHS Band’s website (wsbandofgold.com) goes into the details of what it takes to become a sponsor for this trip.

Sophomore Megan Flowers said “I thought McIntyre was kidding when he said we were going to London. That’s how surprised I was!”

For quite a few band students, an international trip is a once in a lifetime opportunity. All feedback from the students has been incredibly positive, as expected, and most are still in shock, even weeks after the announcement was made to the whole band.

Junior Patrick Gustafson also pointed out other exciting aspects of the trip, saying, “It’ll be a great opportunity to explore the world and to expand my talent as a musician.”

This opportunity for the Band of Gold is attributed to the countless hours of hard work and dedication put into everything they do, whether it be marching during the halftime show or playing concert music later in the year. Out of thousands of marching bands across the world, WSHS has been chosen to participate in this legendary parade, and this invitation represents a reputation that our school has developed throughout years and years of impressive performances done by the band. If anyone deserves it, it’s definitely the Band of Gold.