Tarpon Springs Marching Band To Perform In Macy's Thanksgiving Parade

TARPON SPRINGS, FL — Sharing the spotlight with a four-story-tall astronaut Snoopy, music icon Dionne Warwick, global performer and host Mariah Carey, and, of course, Santa Claus, the Tarpon Springs High School Marching Band will parade past 5 million people lining Central Park West in New York City for the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Thursday.

The high school's marching band is among 10 high school bands around the country chosen to participate in the beloved seasonal kickoff parade in New York City, watched by more than 50 million television viewers. The parade started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States.

“It is an honor for our student performers to be selected for the 2022 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and have the privilege to perform in front of 5 million spectators and over 50 million television viewers," said Kevin Ford, director of Tarpon Springs High School's magnet program, the Tarpon Springs Leadership Conservatory for the Arts. "This once-in-a-lifetime experience will provide our students the opportunity to act as ambassadors to our community, state and school."

The award-winning marching band is one focus of the Tarpon Springs Leadership Conservatory for the Arts, Ford said. The nationally recognized program provides a curriculum in academic study, instrumental music, dance, leadership and team-building skills designed to develop tomorrow’s leaders.

"Our students come from varied backgrounds, and for many of them, traveling to New York City will allow them to see a part of our country that many have never had a chance to see and will provide profound lessons about themselves and the world around them," Ford said. "This extraordinary experience will teach them that the world is a limitless classroom and their commitment to excellence, relentless pursuit of their dreams and aspirations can become a reality.”

The band was originally invited to perform in the parade in 2019, but the coronavirus pandemic delayed its performance until this year, Ford said.

It wasn't the worst thing that could have happened. The delay not only allowed the band to perfect its repertoire but, during the past 18 months, students and parents, with the help of the Pinellas Community Foundation, raised more than $500,000 to pay for travel and lodging expenses, food and sightseeing trips for the students and their chaperones, ship the band's instruments to New York City and purchase new themed band uniforms, said London Bates, parent of a band student and member of the Tarpon Springs Band Boosters organization.

To prepare for its world debut, the 200-plus high school marching band and color guard have maintained a rigorous schedule of rehearsals, culminating with a full dress rehearsal before family and friends Friday night, before the band headed off to New York City Monday morning.

Ford said he was inspired by the theme of the marching band's production after seeing a 1940s black-and-white photo of the Macy's department store during the holiday season.

"The students will be dressed up in 1940s costumes, and we’ll be kind of depicting a day during the holiday season in New York City," said Ford.

The band will march and play holiday songs throughout the 2.5-mile parade route, starting at 77th Street and Central Park West at 9 a.m.

In the main performance area, the band will stop and give a 90-second performance before continuing on.

"We just learned last week that we’ll be the last band on right before they introduce Santa," said Ford.

This isn't the band's first appearance at the famous parade. Ford also led the marching band when it performed at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2013. It was an experience that he and the band members will always treasure, and now he's looking forward to sharing that experience with a new generation of students.

In addition to its performance in the parade, the band will take in three Broadway shows and participate in workshops with dancers and musicians who work on Broadway.

Throughout the school year, various performance groups in the magnet school conservatory compete "on a national level at band competitions in the fall, and have made incredible accomplishments at these national competitions," Bates said. "The band has many ensembles, as one would imagine, and has a very accomplished jazz ensemble in particular."

In October 2021, the Tarpon Springs High School Leadership Conservatory for the Arts won the Bands of America Regional Championship high school band competition in Orlando and then went on to compete with high school marching bands from six southeastern states in the Bands of America Regional Championship in Johnson City, Tennessee, where Tarpon Springs took first place.

In addition to the marching band, the conservatory includes a wind ensemble, jazz ensemble, color guard and winter guard, percussion ensemble, outdoor performance ensemble and orchestra.