November is a busy time of year for the WHS marching band as they prepare for both the Veterans Day parade and the Festival of Trees parade. Both of these are excellent learning opportunities for band students as well as an opportunity to celebrate both holidays with fun music. 

“I love to have the band march in the parades because it helps with the community aspect of what we do. The Veterans Day is the most important parade we do, just because it helps us celebrate our local veterans and the sacrifices they’ve made,” Assistant Band Director Mrs. Long said 

The Veterans Day parade is especially important because of all the local veterans we help celebrate within the community. This parade helps show the community that all of West High School cares about our veterans and the patriotic music the band plays helps represent that. 

The festival of trees parade is another important and fun parade that the WHS Marching Band takes part in. The band decorates their instruments in hopes of being the most festive band in the parade. This parade is part of a big festival put on by the City of Davenport to celebrate the holiday season. These celebrations will continue downtown inside the River Center from November 23rd to December 1st 2024.

One amazing part of this parade that the band takes full advantage of is how festive it is. The band decorates their instruments using all sorts of festive wrapping paper, tinsel, and various other decorations. The balloons and fun floats make it fun for all. 

“I think the holiday parades are fun and definitely bring everyone together. My favorite part is the candy being thrown at us,” Junior Evie Augustine said