State of Georgia Represented in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Georgia Tech’s Yellow Jacket Marching Band Makes Debut in Annual Holiday Event
ATLANTA (November 24, 2008) Georgia will be well represented in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as Georgia Tech’s Yellow Jacket Marching Band takes center stage. The group is one of two college bands selected to perform during the traditional kick-off to the holiday season.
The parade will be broadcast live Thursday, November 27, 2008, on NBC from 9:00 a.m. until noon (EST). The Yellow Jacket Marching Band has been informed that they will be marching by the camera at approximately 10:07 a.m.
“With 2008 representing the band’s 100th anniversary, we cannot think of a better way to celebrate than taking part in this traditional holiday event,†says Band Director Chris Moore.
Transporting 360 members plus their instruments is no small task. The group will be transported via eight buses along with one truck loaded with instruments ranging from 30 tubas to 31 drums. The band is set leave on Sunday, November 23 for the 800-plus-mile trek.
Established in 1908, the Yellow Jacket Marching Band is one of the oldest such programs in the country. Members of the band are part of a group of more than 1,100 Georgia Tech students who sing, play or study music each semester at a university that offers no undergraduate degrees in music. Band members represent every major and many nations around the world.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is not the first time the band has been in the limelight. Band members appeared at the Kenny Chesney and Sugarland concert during their 2007 summer tour in Atlanta. They also were asked to perform with Keith Urban during his spring concert at Gwinnett Arena earlier this year.
For more information on the Yellow Jacket Marching Band’s major milestones, visit their Web site at http://www.gatech.edu/band/.