The Pike Road High School Marching Band is preparing to take its music—and the Pike Road community—to one of the nation’s most recognizable St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.
The band has received an official invitation to participate in the Chicago St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday, March 13, 2027, giving Pike Road students an opportunity to perform in downtown Chicago while adding another major event to the résumé of a relatively young band program.
According to Pike Road Schools Band Director Brandon Benson, the parade is scheduled to begin around 12:15 to 12:30 p.m. and will follow Chicago’s traditional dyeing of the Chicago River green. The parade route is expected to travel along Columbus Drive in downtown Chicago.
For Benson, the invitation represents more than a trip. It is another step in building a band program capable of giving Pike Road students experiences well beyond their hometown.
The opportunity began when Benson told longtime travel partner Shaun Hammonds. that he wanted to find a major parade experience for the Pike Road band. Hammonds reached out to representatives connected with Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities, and Pike Road was asked to submit a performance video for consideration. Benson sent a video of the band’s previous halftime show.
“They said they loved it, and they wanted to officially invite us,” Benson said.
After receiving the formal invitation, Benson submitted the opportunity to the Pike Road Board of Education for approval and began working through the logistics and costs associated with taking the band to Chicago. Benson said the invitation carries added significance because the Pike Road band program is only about eight years old.
The program has already participated in the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in Washington, D.C., and traveled to SeaWorld, where students participated in a smaller parade. Chicago, however, represents another level of exposure.
“This right here, you know, this is one of those nationally recognized parades,” Benson said.
He credited those who helped build the program before his arrival, including former director Patrick Darby, and said adding both Washington and Chicago to the band’s history in its first decade is worth celebrating.
Benson also sees Chicago as part of a longer-term vision for the Pike Road band.
“We’re building a resume to hopefully get that invitation to go to Macy’s in New York City, and the Rose Bowl parade in Pasadena, California,” Benson said. “It takes time to build a resume, and Chicago definitely makes our resume look really, really good.”
While those future opportunities remain aspirations, Benson said major trips and performances can play an important role in strengthening the program now.
Students and parents have responded enthusiastically to the Chicago invitation, he said. For many students, the trip could be their first opportunity to experience Chicago or participate in an event of this scale.
Benson believes those experiences are an important part of music education.
“For us to have an opportunity to take our students to a different state, to a completely different culture environment, and have this opportunity is huge,” he said.
The experience can also help students see possibilities outside their own community, particularly those interested in music, theatere, show choir, and other performing arts. Benson remembers the impact similar trips had on him as a high school student. Marching band requires long hours, including summer band camps, rehearsals, football games, and competitions. Having a major trip on the calendar gives students something special to work toward.
Those experiences, he said, can ultimately help with both student retention and the continued growth of the band program. Pike Road currently has 150 members in its band program, and Benson’s goal is to give every student the opportunity to make the trip.
The band will also travel with its instructional and support staff, including assistant directors and directors from Pike Road’s junior high and intermediate school programs, along with staff who work with color guard, majorettes, percussion and brass. A school nurse is also expected to accompany the group.
Benson said approximately 150 people were already signed up at the time of the interview, although that number included a few adults. The ultimate goal remains getting all 150 students to Chicago.
Doing so will require significant financial support.
The estimated cost is $1,350 per student, based on four students sharing a room. Benson said that is comparable to the amount students paid for the previous Washington, D.C., trip.
Transportation is one of the largest expenses, particularly the cost of charter buses and fuel.
With 150 students, Benson estimated it would take roughly $202,000 to completely cover student costs for the trip. Students and families are already making payments and have individual fundraising portals they can share with relatives and friends. Benson is also working to establish a general donation link that would allow members of the community to contribute, with money raised through that effort distributed among the participating students.
The centerpiece of the trip will be the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, but the planned four-night stay will also give students an opportunity to experience Chicago’s history, architecture, culture and performing arts.
The tentative itinerary includes visits to the Museum of Science and Industry, the Field Museum, Millennium Park and the Magnificent Mile. Students are also scheduled to experience an architecture river cruise, the 360 Chicago observation deck and a Spirit of Chicago dinner cruise.
Another possibility is attending a live performance of “Mamma Mia!” rather than visiting a second observation deck. Benson said a theatrical performance could be especially meaningful because some Pike Road students also participate in theater and show choir.
The combination of sightseeing, music and performing arts is part of what Benson hopes will make the experience memorable for students.
Before the band can step onto the parade route, however, there is plenty of work ahead. The timing creates a unique challenge because the Chicago trip will come near concert-band assessment season. Benson said Pike Road’s junior high and high school concert bands will be focused on earning superior ratings in those performances while the marching band simultaneously prepares for Chicago.
That means additional rehearsals outside the normal school schedule will be necessary. Benson plans to write a special cadence for the parade, while staff member and arranger Justin Williams is expected to create the band’s musical arrangement.
Pike Road’s competitive marching season concludes Oct. 24. After that, students will turn some of their attention toward the Christmas concert while gradually beginning work on their Chicago parade music. The goal will be to introduce the music early enough for students to learn and memorize it before more intensive parade rehearsals begin.
The timing of the trip does offer one advantage: it coincides with the beginning of Pike Road Schools’ spring break.
“I do love that it falls right on our spring break,” Benson said.
There will even be a little extra green in Pike Road’s uniforms for the occasion.
Benson said parade organizers have asked the band to incorporate some green into its appearance. The program is considering additions for the auxiliary units as well as a green sash or similar element for the musicians.
Between now and March, Benson hopes Pike Road residents and businesses will rally around the students.
Support does not have to be financial. He encouraged residents to attend football games, competitions and performances and simply show up for the students as they prepare.
But with a trip of this magnitude, financial contributions can make a substantial difference.
“Monetary donations are definitely going to help our students achieve not only just for this trip, but also for the equipment that we’ll be needing,” Benson said.
Donations can also help with parade-specific needs, including the green uniform elements the band will need for its Chicago appearance.
Most importantly, Benson said funds donated toward the trip will be distributed evenly among the students who are signed up, helping reduce the individual cost and making it possible for more students to participate.
For a band program still within its first decade, Chicago represents another milestone—and potentially another building block toward even larger stages.
For the students, though, the experience will be about more than adding another parade to the program’s résumé. It will be an opportunity to travel together, perform before a major audience, experience one of America’s largest cities and represent Pike Road hundreds of miles from home.
And when the Pike Road High School Marching Band steps onto the parade route in downtown Chicago on March 13, the students will be carrying a little piece of their community with them—along with just a little extra green.
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