The Rose Parade marching bands have arrived in Pasadena. Bandfest at PCC proves it
The dormant holiday grounds of Pasadena City College were alive with music Sunday afternoon, Dec. 29, as the first day of Bandfest marched onto the stage.
The 44th-annual two-day pre-Rose Parade showcase, sponsored by Remo, Inc., which donates all the ceremonial drum heads to the bands, drew a couple thousand people to Robinson Stadium.
Along with the hundreds of performers, friends and family members from around the country were on hand to hear and witness the colossal sounds of these celebrated marching bands.
The performances are unique presentations not found in the Jan. 1 Tournament of Roses parade itself. They include choreography, band configurations and arrangements one might not see in the parade. In Bandfest, the bands use the field and its surrounding track as their stage.
While there’s the traditional marching band sound, the schools use choreographed dancing, artistic backdrops, vocal chants, technology, singing and chants.
“I’m so excited,” said Martha Ruiz of Montebello, whose daughter, Isabella, is a cheerleader with the Salesians of Don Bosco Southern California High School Band.
“She is nervous, but I think their coach got them prepared for it,” Ruiz said, with the band having put in five or six hours each day for the last two months, covering straight marches of six miles without stopping to build endurance.
“They’ve been practicing for a long time now,” she said.
Sharell Braziel of El Paso, Texas, came out to California to see his daughter, Shaniya, a flute player, take part in the parade with the Pebble Hills High School Spartan Marching Band.
“So far it’s been exciting,” he said. “We’re thankful for being here and having the opportunity.”
Along with taking part in group fundraisers, he said each child had to earn close to $900 to pay for the six-day trip, which began with 240 students coming out on six busses to Pasadena earlier this week.
“We reached out to other family members and loved ones,” Braziel said, in order to help fund the trip.
Matthew Huerta, 14, is a trumpet player with the Pebble Hills band.
“It’s a lot of hard work to achieve all this,” he said as he and his bandmates lined up to enter the field to perform.
“We started last year in July,” he said, “We’ve been practicing our music, taught to march and stuff.”
Max Sierra, band director with Pebble Hills, has been leading the way since they were first notified about their inclusion in the parade way back in July of 2023.
“We’ve been working towards this for a long time now,” he said, with the band doing smaller events and competitions to lead up to this, building their endurance and practicing performing.
“This is a big deal,” he said of the Rose Parade.
Sierra also spoke with appreciation about the Bandfest event itself, as it fosters community for the marching bands.
“I think it’s great bringing everyone together,” he said. “Everyone gets to see all the other groups … I came last year and watched some of the groups.”
Not everyone in attendance was directly involved with the parade. Mike Bedford of Ventura brought his school-age kids out to Bandfest to give them a taste of performing in a marching band.
“I want them to be excited about it, so I’m just giving them some exposure to the rhythms and to the community that it brings,” he said.
Sunday featured 11 different bands, including a group from Panama, as well as bands from Mississippi, Oregon, and New England. Closer to home were ones from L.A., Carson, and Cupertino.
On Monday there are two sections of performance planned, the first in the morning and the second in the afternoon, with performances by 15 bands in total.
Rotem Alon, 16, a saber soloist with the Homestead High School Mighty Mustang Marching Band and Color Guard of Cupertino, is very excited to be participating.
“It’s crazy,” she said. “It’s wild. We’ve driven really far to get down here and we were all super-excited on the bus and we’re like, ‘This is really happening.’”
The band took a drive down the parade route on Sunday morning to get a closer look, she said, which helped bring the reality of their participation home.
“This is super exciting,” she said, noting that they too have worked diligently on endurance exercises and practice.
Robert Shen, president of Remo, Inc., who has been attending the parade and Bandfest since he was young, expressed his excitement at being there Sunday.
“The bands are amazing, as always,” he said.
“The drum heads just look absolutely beautiful,” he said. “They are gorgeous and if you’re lucky enough to see them in person, they really just pop off the drums.”
Shen said that being the annual sponsor almost feels like a duty to their company to help make the parade, with which they’ve partnered for decades, be the best show possible.
“It’s not just a privilege, but it’s really an honor,” he said. “It feels like a duty to us to put on the event for the kids, for the fans, for the supporters. They’ve worked so hard to march in the parade.”
Ed Morales, Tournament of Roses president, was also excited to see the bands perform on Sunday.
“Bandfest is fabulous today, just like every time we have it,” he said.
“These bands are extraordinary,” he said. “We’re so blessed to get the best bands in the country. It’s definitely the best day ever.”
Sunday’s performers:
- Pasadena City College Tournament of Roses Honor Band & Herald Trumpets
- Pebble Hills High School Spartan Marching Band
- Salesians of Don Bosco Southern California High School Band
- Banda de Musica Herberto Lopez Colegio Jose Daniel Crespo
- Homestead High School Mighty Mustang Marching Band and Color Guard
- The Salvation Army Tournament of Roses Marching Band
- The New England Honor Marching Band
- University of Oregon Marching Band
- The Jackson State University “Sonic Boom of the South”
Monday’s performers, Bandfest 2 (beginning at 10 a.m.)
- Pasadena City College Tournament of Roses Honor Band & Herald Trumpets
- The Lincoln-Way Marching Band
- All Star Marching Band Mexico
- Rancho Verde Crimson Regiment
- Heisinger Pigegarde (Elsinore Girls Marching Band)
- 605 All Star Band
- The University of Wyoming “Western Thunder” Marching Band
Bandfest 3 (beginning at 2 p.m. )
- Pasadena City College Tournament of Roses Honor Band & Herald Trumpets
- Seminole High School. Warhawk Marching Band
- United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps
- Kyoto Tachibana High School Green Band
- Los Angeles Unified School District All District High School Honor Band
- Fresno State Bulldog Marching Band
Tickets for Monday’s Bandfests are $25. Children younger than 5 are free. Tickets sold online only at sharpseating.com or call (626) 795-4171. No cash or credit sales onsite.
Pasadena City College is at 1570 E. Colorado Boulevard. Free parking in Structure 4 off Del Mar Avenue.
Jarret Liotta is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and photographer.