SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – Band students from Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls took to the streets of New York City and performed in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. A few of the band members share their experiences during the rainy, yet thrilling performance.
It was an early Thanksgiving morning start for Lincoln High School seniors Lauryn Lidel and Annabelle Johnson.
“We woke up at 3 a.m. and we had a meeting at 3:55 a.m. with everyone just to make sure like everyone was here and we knew the schedule,” Lidel said.
Wrapped up in ponchos, all 215 band members made their way to the parade route.
“Obviously it was a bit more wet and uncomfortable than it would usually be. Besides that, it was still a lot of fun. I think it for sure made it very memorable,” Lidel said.
Johnson says her favorite part was seeing the crowd’s reaction.
“It’s amazing how many people you can make happy just from music,” Johnson said. “And there’s people in the audience who like definitely never seen or heard a marching band before. They were clapping and dancing and singing along and they were excited to hear the drums and see the people playing. And it was just pretty inspiring seeing people be happy when they didn’t even know any of us.”
Lidel says this is the biggest performance she’s been a part of. She is honored to represent Sioux Falls South Dakota in front of millions of people.
“It’s very, very cool to be able to represent not only our school and our city but also our state in that way,” Lidel said. “It’s crazy, I think at our biggest competition, it maxed out around 15,000 people. So to have a million in person and another 50 million watching from home.”
The two say the band is closer than ever being able to experience the parade together.
“Everybody is so happy and so proud of each other and like the support we all have for each other and the love we all have for each other is really strong right now,” Johnson said.
“I think we’re all just overjoyed and honored to have been able to have this experience,” Lidel said.
The band played a mashup of Empire State of Mind and New York New York with its march song being America the Beautiful.
If you’d like to watch part of the performance click here.
