Western Marching Panthers to march in 500 Festival Parade
May 5—RUSSIAVILLE — Howard County will be represented on national television for the second consecutive year.
The Western Marching Panthers Band & Guard was one 15 bands selected to march in the Indianapolis 500 Festival Parade on May 25. The parade in downtown Indy is one of the largest in the country and sees 200,000 people attend.
About a million more watch on television. The 500 Festival Parade will be broadcast on WTHR, channel 13, and the streaming service Peacock. Festivities begin at 11:45 a.m. with the parade starting at noon.
"It's kind of nice to represent Howard County, especially on national television," said Stephan Garber, director of Western's marching band.
The Western band will appear on TV during the beginning of the parade.
It's Western's first selection since 2017 when the Panthers, Northwestern and Kokomo all marched in the parade. Northwestern appeared in last year's parade.
Other schools picked for this year include Brownsburg, Muncie Central and Westfield high schools. The parade also features celebrities and 33 of the drivers competing in the race.
Western will serve as the Class C representative for the Indiana State School Music Association. Garber said the selection committee picks bands to represent each level of ISSMA as well as the state fair band circuit.
This year's parade theme is Iconic Moments in Indy.
Western's band will play "The 500" by the Singing Hoosiers of Indiana University. The song was written in 1961 specifically for the Indy 500, according to Garber.
"It made sense to me," he said.
Drum cadences will break up each rendition of the song as the band marches it way through the 1.3-mile parade route.
The band recently wrapped up its spring ISSMA contest season. Western High School earned a Total Department Award from ISSMA as both its band and choir programs received All-Music Awards.
Next up is practicing for the parade.
"They're excited about it," Garber said of the 80 students who will participate. "They just love performing, no matter the function."
The band director wants the kids to enjoy the moment.
"You see a lot of kiddos on the side, wave to them, make their day," Garber said. "It's a parade."
For Garber, the parade is an opportunity to not only represent Western but possibly inspire kids to join band. Who knows, maybe a kid sees the band march by them, and that's what sparks their interest into music.
"That's what I'm thinking about, how can I not only promote my program but also music education as a whole," Garber said.
The 108th running of the Indy 500 will start at approximately 12:45 p.m. May 26.
Spencer Durham can be reached at 765-454-8598, by email at spencer.durham@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @Durham_KT.
