A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who play while marching. Historically they were used in armed forces and many marching bands remain military bands. Others are still associated with military units or emulate a military style, with elements such as uniforms, flags and batons and occasionally rifles or sabers. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments.
Norfolk is an independent city in Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, Norfolk had a population of 238,005, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, and the 96th-most populous city in the nation. Norfolk holds a strategic position as the historical, urban, financial, and cultural center of the Hampton Roads region, which has more than 1.8 million inhabitants and is the 37th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S., with ten cities.
The Toronto Caribbean Carnival, formerly and affectionately known as Caribana, is a festival of Caribbean culture and traditions held each summer in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a pan-Caribbean Carnival event and has been billed as North America's largest Festival, frequented by over 1.3 million tourists each year for the festival's Grand Parade and an overall attendance of 2.3 million.
Beating Retreat is a military ceremony dating to 17th-century England and was first used to recall nearby patrolling units to their castle.
Tamborrada of Donostia is a celebratory drum festival held every year on January 20 in the city of San Sebastián, Spain. At midnight, in the Konstituzio Plaza in the "Alde Zaharra/Parte Vieja", the mayor raises the flag of San Sebastián. The festival lasts for 24 hours. Participants, dressed as cooks and soldiers, march in companies across the city. The celebration ends at midnight, when people congregate at the Konstituzio Plaza and the city flag is simultaneously lowered at various locations.
The Virginia Tech Regimental Band, also known as the Highty Tighties, VPI Cadet Band, or Band Company was established in 1893 as a military marching band unit in the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Virginia Tech also has had since 1974 a non-military marching band, The Marching Virginians.
A military tattoo is a performance of music or display of armed forces in general. The term comes from the early 17th-century Dutch phrase doe den tap toe, a signal sounded by drummers or trumpeters to instruct innkeepers near military garrisons to stop serving beer and for soldiers to return to their barracks and is unrelated to the ink tattoo that was borrowed from Tahitian.
Color guards or flag corps are teams of performers who perform choreographed dances and routines with various equipment to enhance and interpret the music of a marching band or drum and bugle corps show. Color guard teams can be found in American colleges, universities, high schools, middle schools, and independent drum corps. They use various equipment including flags, fake rifles, and sabres, along with other props. Most Color Guard groups are of mixed gender but some may also be single gender.
The Singapore Armed Forces Band form the musical arm of the Singapore Armed Forces. Consisting of the flagship SAF Central Band and the SAF Ceremonial Band, the SAF Band provides musical support for key events such as the National Day Parade, SAF Day Parade, Passing Out Parades, Change of Command Parades and other military duties. Other than discharging ceremonial duties, the SAF Band also presents public concerts that aim to bring a wide range of music to the populace. They also seek to build up the band's music repertoire into an extensive array of styles and variety.
The Großer Zapfenstreich is a military ceremony performed in Germany and Austria. It is similar to the military tattoo ceremony performed in English-speaking countries, and is the most important ceremonial act executed by the German federal armed forces, the Bundeswehr, and by the Austrian federal armed forces Bundesheer. The Zapfenstreich is performed only during national celebrations and solemn public commemorations, to honour distinguished persons present at such special events. Examples are the farewell ceremony for a German federal president, or at the conclusion of large military exercises. It takes place in the evening hours and consists of a military formation of at least one military band, two platoons of armed infantrymen, and two lines of soldiers carrying torches, in total about 400 men.
A Schützenfest is a traditional festival or fair featuring a target shooting competition in the cultures of Switzerland, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.
The Regimental Pipes and Drums of The Calgary Highlanders is an authorized volunteer pipe band associated with The Calgary Highlanders of the Canadian Forces. For many years, the band was a bona fide, and separate, military unit unto itself, with a separate Unit Identification Code within the CF. Today, the band has been reduced to volunteer status but officially maintains an establishment of eight paid military musicians on its rolls. The band has had mixed success in competitions, but under the direction of Pipe Major Michael Giles had become successful in the Grade Three circuit in Alberta in the years leading up to the regimental centennial in 2010. The band published a recording to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Regiment in 1990, titled Eighty Years of Glory and commemorated its centennial in 2010 by releasing a second CD entitled Onward.
The Regimental Band and Pipes was founded on the Citadel campus in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1909, with marine general Harry K. Pickett in command. The marching band makes up one of the twenty-one companies of the South Carolina Corps of Cadets. In 1991, the band participated in the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Scotland, becoming the first military college selected for the honor. They returned in 2010 as the only unit from the United States to appear at the Silver Jubilee of the Tattoo and appeared again in 2015 and 2024.
The Royal Military College of Canada Bands is the official group of bands of the Royal Military College of Canada. The group is composed of four sections: the brass and reed, the pipes and drums, highland dancers, and choristers. Total band membership consists of 105 Officer Cadets from the college. Officer Cadets in the band practice three days a week in the morning on top of attending their individual full-time university programs.
Lahore, being the richest cultural city in Pakistan, celebrates a number of festivals throughout the year. It is known for the festivals of Basant and Mela Chiraghan, but many others are celebrated in the metropolis as well.
The Neuss Schützenfest, officially the Neuss' Citizens' Marksmen's Festival, is the Schützenfest of the German city of Neuss. It is held annually on the last weekend in August. With more than 7,500 parading marksmen it is smaller than the Hanover Schützenfest but is regarded as the largest marksmen's festival in the world that is organized by a single association and does not include platoons from other cities. The year 2011 saw the largest number of trooping marksmen to date, with 6,951 marksmen taking part in the parade. The marksmen's festival with its royal parade, several processions, royal shooting competition and a great number of accompanying events is a social highlight of the city of Neuss and the surrounding area and attracts up to a million visitors each year. The largest number of visitors to date was recorded in 2007, with 1.5 million people coming to watch the Schützenfest.
Basel Tattoo is an annual military tattoo show performed by International military bands, display teams, popular musicians, and tattoo formations in Basel, Switzerland.
The Jordanian Armed Forces Band is the main musical unit of the Royal Jordanian Army made up of musicians who perform in official settings usually in the presence of the Jordanian royal family. When performing, all band members wear red and white checked Keffiyehs alongside their full dress uniform. The band was established in 1921, with a core of 10 musicians who served with the Arab Army. In 1929, bagpipes from the area that is now Egypt and Syria were first introduced to the band. In 1982, Hussein of Jordan approved the use of the band for purely ceremonial purposes. Today, the full band is composed of over 500 musicians who are arranged in a similar fashion to the Bands of the Household Division.
TriPride is an annual LGBTQ parade and festival rotating between the cities of the Tri-Cities region in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia: Johnson City, Kingsport, and Bristol, Tennessee/Bristol, Virginia.
The Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force Steel Orchestra (TTDFSO) is a specialized military band that is part of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force. It has its roots in British traditions for military bands, all while also uniquely using unconventional instruments such as steelpans and other native Trinidadian instruments. The 40-member band is currently the only military steel band in the world.
