COLUMBIA, S.C. —  The University of South Carolina’s (USC) Carolina Band will march in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

In September 2023, the Carolina band announced it had been invited to march the 2 1/2-mile route through New York City — in front of over 20 million viewers. This is the first time in the band’s 104-year history that it will perform in the Macy’s parade.

What You Need To Know

  • This marks the first time the band will march in the Macy's parade in its 104-year history

  • While the band announced it would be participating back in 2023, USC Director of Athletic Bands Dr. Jay Jacobs said the process started much earlier 

  • The USC group is just one of 11 bands participating in this year's parade 

  • The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will air Thursday at 8:30 a.m. EST

USC Director of Athletic Bands Dr. Jay Jacobs said the process began much sooner than 2023.

“We sent in an initial application, and then we went through a couple years of COVID challenges. So, then we waited and tried again," he said. 

After a few years of applying, the band finally got its break.

“We received a call late February 2023 to hop on a Zoom call with the folks from Macy’s and they told us we had been accepted,” Jacobs said. 

The "Mighty Sound of the Southeast" is one of just 11 marching bands selected to perform in this year’s parade.

According to Jacobs, the process took a lot of planning.

“Initially, we started talking about what our performance would be, what music we would do. Macy’s asked us not to reveal the music we’re going to play, so it’s a surprise on that day," he said. 

A variety of donors, including $25,000 donations from women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, football coach Shane Beamer, and famous alumnus musician Darius Rucker, helped the band reach its $645,000 goal last month.

"We are incredibly grateful for everyone who gave financially or otherwise to make this happen for us. We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy undertaking when we accepted the invitation. It’s been amazing,” said Jacobs.

In the early hours of Sunday, Nov. 24, the band’s 375 members, staff, nine charter buses and an equipment truck loaded up and hit the road for the Big Apple.

For the band, the performance is an opportunity to honor all the USC and Carolina band alumni.

“We just happened to be at the right place at right time. This is based on years and years of fantastic people in the Carolina band building a reputation and a standard that we hope to uphold,” said Jacobs.

Following the parade, the Carolina Band will travel to Greenville, South Carolina, ahead of its performance in Saturday’s Palmetto Bowl game against the Clemson Tigers.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will air Thursday at 8:30 a.m. EST.