The sky was dark and the sound of live instruments filled the air, mixed among the Christmas music playing from the speakers by the judges’ tent outside the Starbucks in Downtown Encinitas on the evening of December 6^th. The lively music had several people watching along the parade route dancing along in time to the music, or simply tapping their feet.

The SDA band, decked out in Santa hats, was a change from what seemed to be the usual floats along the parade route this year: advertisements for businesses or politicians who were accompanied by children, usually on scooters.

The band played “Wipeout,” all while marching along the parade route, no doubt a difficult feat. Yet they were still able to march in time, and play together, despite the challenges that marching in the dark presented. Junior Max Opferkuch said, “Getting everyone to stay in step, on the right foot, and in line, especially when going around corners, stopping, or changing tempo, is more difficult than it seems.”

While the band is still waiting to hear the results of the parade, both the judges and the parade-goers seemed to enjoy their performance.  In fact, some parade-goers enjoyed the band’s performance so much that they decided that they wanted to join in. Junior Lauren Broderick said, “While we were playing, a group of little kids decided that they wanted to join in, so they jumped into the middle of our band while we were performing in front of the judges and started to dance.”

“While of course the music and marching are fun,” said Opferkuch, “the parade has always been, more than anything in my opinion, a bonding experience for the band, where the camaraderie of the band is really strengthened. The Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band seldom get to play together, so getting the two groups together is always fun- it’s sort of like bringing together the whole extended family.”