The La Porte High School Marching Band will be one of seventeen bands selected to perform in this year’s 96th annual Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade. The parade is the oldest Thanksgiving Day Parade. In addition to their performance the band will tour historic Philadelphia prior to the parade and then will move to New York City where the band will have opportunities to sight-see and view shows including the new Disney musical “Aladdin” and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.
The Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade is the oldest event of its kind in the nation with an average of 500,000 people lining the parade route through downtown Philadelphia. The parade was founded in 1920 by Gimbel’s Department Store and is currently sponsored by Philadelphia Channel 6-ABC and Dunkin’ Donuts. 1996 represented the first year of Disney’s involvement which has heightened the success of the annual event. This is the third time the La Porte Marching Band has been featured in the parade with previous appearances in 1999 and 2007. The parade will be telecast by 6-ABC via syndication to other stations or via a live webcast available at www.6abc.com.