By Kaitlin Hoskins, News Editor
The Southside High School marching band, also known as “The Pride of Southside,” certainly made the city proud when the band performed at the 2024 National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in Washington, D.C. on April 13.
The band, made up of about 130 members, traveled to the nation’s capital to perform down Constitution Avenue. Southside’s band was one of about 10 high school bands to perform – three of those were from fellow Alabama High Schools like Auburn and Chelsea.
Southside’s performance was livestreamed on YouTube and broadcast live on ABC-TV.
The National Cherry Blossom Festival is an annual four-week-long event in D.C. that begins around March 20 and continues into early April. The event is a celebration of Spring and a commemoration of the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to the city of Washington, D.C.
The festival welcomes more than 1.5 million people to enjoy diverse and creative programming promoting traditional and contemporary arts and culture, natural beauty and community spirit. Events are primarily free and open to the public.
The planning of the next festival is already well underway, with the 2025 celebration set for March 20 – April 13.