Happy Birthday, America!

Nine high school marching bands‚ including one team of baton twirlers‚ performed alongside more than 100 military and community groups in Washington, D.C., during the official 2007 America’s National Independence Day Parade. More than 300,000 spectators lined a one-mile stretch of Constitution Avenue to watch the parade. This year’s bands came from all over the United States, attending from as far west as Arizona. They were selected based on quality as well as geographical, ethnic and stylistic diversity. “We contact governors’ and senators’ offices and ask for recommendations,” says Ned Elliott, production director for Music Celebrations International.

Listed here are the high school bands that performed at this year’s parade.

About author

Eddie Carden

Eddie Carden is an editorial intern for Halftime Magazine. He is a recent graduate from the University of Southern California (USC), with a major in public relations and neuroscience. He has been playing the trumpet since the fifth grade and served last year as the drum major for the USC “Spirit of Troy” Trojan Marching Band.

Blue Era

The Reading (Pa.) Buccaneers won the 2007 Drum Corps Associates World Championship, scoring just tenths of a point away from the highest point total in ...