London's New Year's Day Parade


The London New Year's Day Parade is an annual parade through the streets of the West End of London on 1 January. The parade first took place in 1987, as the Lord Mayor of Westminster's Big Parade. The parade was renamed in 1994, and for 2000 only it was called the Millennium Parade.

Organisation

The London parade is the biggest New Year's Day street event of its kind. It attracts around a million spectators, and there is ticket-only seating at various points along the route.

Parade route

The parade route is two miles long. Before 2010 it began at Parliament Square in Westminster, continuing along Parliament Street and Whitehall to Trafalgar Square. It then continued along Cockspur Street and Regent Street. The final section was along Piccadilly and the parade ended at Green Park.
In 2010 the parade route was reversed to "appease US television broadcasters" and to "give the American audience the best views of the capital's landmarks, such as the Elizabeth Tower of the Palace of Westminster and Trafalgar Square". The revised route started at the Ritz Hotel, along Piccadilly to Piccadilly Circus, down Regent Street, then along Pall Mall to Trafalgar Square, then along Whitehall to Parliament Square.

Participants

The parade is used to raise funds for charities in London and representatives from each of the 32 London boroughs are encouraged to take part as a "borough entry", judged as part of the event. The winning entry in the 2017 parade was the City of Westminster with the entry titled Mary Poppins.

Marching bands

The from New Mexico State University was the first collegiate marching band to participate in the parade. The band, under the direction of George Hattendorf, marched in the first Lord Mayor of Westminster's Big Parade in 1987. The Marching 97 of Lehigh University performed in 2018.
The Shawnee Mission West High School marching band from Overland Park, Kansas, USA, has marched in the parade nine times. The 130-member Dixie Heights High School Marching Colonels from Edgewood, Kentucky performed in the parade in 1991 led by Band Director Daryl Angel. The 240-member Walker Valley High School Band from Cleveland, Tennessee, directed by Alan Hunt, and the vocal ensemble from the same school, marched in the 2007 parade. The vocal ensemble was also honoured by being asked to start the parade off by singing the British national anthem. The 140-member marching band from Fort Myers High School in Florida, USA, were initially prohibited from taking part in the 2007 parade because US education officials feared they might be caught in a terrorist attack. The decision was later overruled. The school also hosted the two winners of that year's BBC London competition.
Other American high school groups that have performed include the Leslie Blackhawk Marching Band from Leslie, Michigan, the Goshen High School Marching Band, Goshen Indiana. Aberdeen High School Marching Eagle, from Aberdeen, Maryland, the Troy High School marching band from Troy, Michigan, the Deep Run Marching Wildcats of Glen Allen, VA, the Blue Valley West Marching Band from Overland Park, Kansas, Turpin High School marching band from Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Golden Eagle Marching Band from Fleming Island, Florida. The Stone Bridge High School Marching Bulldogs from Ashburn, Virginia, and the Menchville High School Marching Monarchs from Newport News, Virginia, who have performed in the parade twice, in 2009 and 2014. The Briar Woods High School marching band, also from Ashburn, Virginia, performed in 2011. The Waubonsie Valley High School Marching Warriors from Aurora, Illinois performed in 2006. The 150-member Murphy High School Mighty Marching Panthers from Mobile, Alabama performed in 1989 receiving top honors.
In 1996, the Sandy Creek High School Marching band performed at the New Year's Day Parade.
In 2010, the Legacy_High_School_ Lightning Marching Band performed in the parade.
Southmoore High School in Oklahoma performed in 2016.
The Clinton High School band from Clinton, Tennessee performed in the 2003 parade.
In 2019, The Pride of the Treasure Coast, the Vero Beach Fighting Indians Band from Vero Beach, Florida performed in the parade.
In 2019, The 2018-2019 Pride of Bixby Marching Band from Bixby, Oklahoma performed in the parade. Bixby Bands Wind Ensembles also performed in two London venues prior to the parade.
In 2019, the Blue Valley Northwest High School Band from Overland Park, Kansas performed.
In 2019, the Robert E. Fitch Sr. High School Band from Groton, Connecticut performed. The High School Choir also performed at the London International Choral Festival.
In 2020, the Hempfield Area High School Band from Greensburg, Pennsylvania performed.
In 2020, the Brunswick High School Band from Brunswick, Ohio performed
In 2020, the Nogales High School Noble Regiment from La Puente, California performed
In 2020, the West Orange High School band from Winter Garden, Florida performed.
In 2020, the Lake Nona High School Sound of the Lions from Orlando, Florida performed.
In 2020, the Parkview High School Marching Band from Lilburn, Georgia performed.
In 2020, the Newport High School Marching Band from Bellevue, Washington performed.
In 2020, the Marshall University Marching Thunder from Huntington, West Virginia performed.
In 2021, the Blue Jay Pride Marching Band from Liberty, Missouri will perform.
In 2022, the Santa Fe High School marching band from Edmond, Oklahoma will perform.
The 2014 parade included the 100-member marching band Banda de Musica Colegio Moisés Castillo Ocaña from Panama.

Scouts

Over 200 Scouts from across London, led by the Enfield District Scout Band, took part in the 2007 parade, heralding the start of the UK's "2007 Centenary of Scouting Celebrations".
London's town crier is also part of the parade.