The 270-member Fresno State Bulldog Marching Band will perform in the Rose Parade on Jan. 2, 2023. (Fresno State News)
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The 270-member Fresno State Bulldog Marching Band is headed to its first Rose Parade in Pasadena.
As exciting as that news is for the university, patience is required.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the band won’t get to show off its music chops, marching steps, and “Bulldog Spirit” until the Rose Parade on Jan. 2, 2023. With the cancellation of the 2021 event, the university’s application was pushed back one year.
In January 2019, 700,000 spectators lined the Rose Parade route, and an estimated 37 million people watched it on television, according to Forbes.
‘Pinnacle Honor’ for Band
The band also will perform in the Tournament of Roses Bandfest field show with other participating marching bands.
“The Tournament of Roses Parade is the pinnacle of honor for a college marching band, and I am immensely proud of what our student-musicians have achieved,” Steve McKeithen, director of the Bulldog Marching Band, said in a news release on Tuesday.
In addition, the university said that the band is invited to the 2023 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland, along with nine other marching bands from the Mountain West Conference.
Watch: Bulldog Marching Band Receive Rose Parade Invite
