Rockin’ into downtown Silver Spring

Thanksgiving Day Parade

Photo: The Blazer Pride Marching Band at the 2024 Montgomery County Thanksgiving Parade.

The Blazer Pride Marching Band at the 2024 Montgomery County Thanksgiving Parade. Photo courtesy of Sydney Humpert.

The capstone to any good holiday season is a classic Thanksgiving parade. For anyone living in the DC Metro area, this means making their way to Silver Spring one Saturday morning in mid-November to see the Montgomery County Thanksgiving Parade. Between the dozens of musical and dance showcases, city officials and politicians, drag performers, and nonprofit organizations, the 2024 parade was a celebration of the rich diversity of local performing arts and civil service scenes.

Dancers at Montgomery County Thanksgiving Parade

Photo: Performances from local groups filled the streets of downtown Silver Spring.

Performances from local groups filled the streets of downtown Silver Spring. Photo courtesy of Sydney Humpert.

One such performing arts group was the School of Rock, a nationwide music program which focuses on giving young artists a platform within their local music scenes. Blair junior Ve Mather, a musician for School of Rock, explained the setup for their float in the parade. “We usually rent a truck or use a parent's truck, set up a few amps, mics, instruments, and we'll play a short Christmas themed set and travel the parade route,” he said. 

Mather also talked about his personal prep work for the parade. “We get there at 6 a.m., set up our sound system, decorate the float that we're on, which is really just a truck, and then we sound check, do a practice lap, and then head over to the parade. Being on the float itself is very scary because you're going basically maybe five, 10 miles an hour, but it's really bumpy,” he explained.

School of Rock’s set was made up of three classic Christmas songs to get in the holiday spirit– “Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree,” “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” and “Run Rudolph Run.” Mather explained the strategy behind playing recognizable songs. “[It’s] a very strategic move because you will be going down, you'll transition into the next song, and everyone around will go, 'oh.' Because it's very visually striking to see young people playing instruments… and playing a song that you knew and you grew up with.”

Also performing at the Thanksgiving Parade was Blair’s very own Blazer Pride Marching Band and Majorette team. The band’s main performance of “Shut Up and Dance with Me” was a major crowd pleaser.

Blazer Pride Marching Band

Photo: The Blazer Pride Marching Band at the parade.

The Blazer Pride Marching Band at the parade. Photo courtesy of Sydney Humpert.

Sophomore Leena Bellows, a member of the band’s color guard, discussed some of color guard’s challenges with the piece. “Being in sync for this song was hard. 'Shut Up and Dance with Me' had a lot of moves we had never learned before, and they needed to be very in sync to look clean,” she explained. 

Despite these initial challenges, Bellows found the crowd's reactions to the performance and march to be both positive and encouraging. “I remember I got really happy and couldn't control my smile when certain parents would cheer on Blair,” she said. 

Events like the Thanksgiving parade are incredible ways for communities to give performing artists a platform to showcase their talents. Giving local artists and students a venue to perform their works in a supportive community will inspire them to pursue a creative career and help them connect with like-minded people. Most importantly, though, they can tell the world that when it comes to performing arts, no one does it like the DC area.