Thursday, September 29, 2022
A party of United Kingdom Dignitaries visited Huntsville High School (HHS) today to invite the HHS Band to perform in London’s New Year’s Day Parade & Festival in 2024. Chair and Founder of the event, Mr. Bob Bone, accompanied by Mr. Steve Summers, Chair of the London Mayors’ Association, which represents all of London’s civic mayoralties (past and present), presented a formal parade invitation to the 160 member HHS Marching Panther Band, their directors, and other HCS dignitaries and families.
Mr. Bone said that it is a requirement of the parade’s patrons that each invitation to the event be delivered personally, adding that “we’ve come here today to Huntsville High because [of] it’s fantastic reputation for performance, and we’re going to be absolutely delighted to welcome them to the streets of London in the first of January 2024.”
According to Mr. Bone, the parade has more than ten thousand participants in the event every year, which are drawn from 22 countries around the world. The street audience reaches to around three quarters of a million, while the television audience pulls in around 350 million. Mr. Bone says, “It’s a pretty big deal.”
“We’re certainly honored to accept this invitation today,” said HHS Band Director Stuart Tankesley, adding that “the kids deserve this, they’re dedicated, they’re committed to our process, and they believe in our directors and staff here, and so we’re very excited to go and perform at an international level.