Parade of Bands missing from Winter Park holiday festivities this year

The popular parade along Park Avenue was squeezed out by this season’s earlier bowl game kickoff

Dec. 17, 2024

By Gabrielle Russon

A longtime Winter Park holiday tradition is canceled this year because officials said an earlier kickoff for the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Dec. 28 makes it impossible to hold the Parade of Bands.

“It has been a crowd-pleaser every year. We’re really sorry that it’s not going to be held this year,” said Johnny Miller, Winter Park’s special events manager. “But we will be ready to go next year and hopefully everything will work out with the date.”

So far, Miller has fielded a dozen calls from residents asking about the parade since the event is missing from the city’s holiday calendar. Miller expects the calls to increase as people tune into football and Christmas approaches.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• reddit

College bands faceoff in Central Park as part of the Parade of Bands. (Photos courtesy of the City of Winter Park)

Since 2007, two school marching bands in town for what’s now known as the Pop-Tarts Bowl at Camping World Stadium have marched down Park Avenue late morning before the game. Little kids sat on the curb and adults brunched outdoors while tubas, drums, mascots and cheerleaders took over the quaint brick street. The parade was up close, personal and loud; the environment was electric.

The finale took place at Central Park, where the two opposing schools competed in a spirited drum-off in a big outdoor pep rally.

“I learned the first year, it’s not a battle,” Miller said. “Bands don’t fight.”

After the performances, the two friendly school bands ate lunch together before heading back on buses to Camping World Stadium. Winter Park city employees served barbecue to nearly 1,000 hungry college students in about 20 minutes, Miller said.

As far as parades go, “It was something different. It was something unique,” said Miller, who appreciates a good marching band as the longtime assistant football coach at Winter Park High School, his other job. 

Parades these days are harder to come by. The annual downtown Orlando Citrus Parade was canceled in 2019 after nearly four decades.

The Parade of Bands drew at least 2,000 or more — especially if a Florida team was playing in Orlando.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• reddit

The Parade of Bands marches down Park Avenue. (Photos courtesy of the city of Winter Park.)

Winter Park resident Marc Hagle, a commercial developer who is currently building a record-setting home in the city at 40,000-square feet on Lake Osceola and who has made headlines with wife, Sharon, for traveling in space, came up with the Parade of Bands’ idea and approached the city, Miller said.

The parade launched in 2007 and has been held annually except for two previously cancelled years, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, Iowa State versus Miami in the Pop-Tarts Bowl starts at 3:30 p.m. on the Saturday following Christmas. This season marks the first of an expanded college playoff system, which prompted some earlier bowl kickoffs. 

In past years, the bowl’s start time was in the evening on a weekday, leaving enough time to squeeze in a parade and the bands’ lunch in Winter Park.

“The logistics are very tough, even when the game was at like 5:45, almost 6 o’clock,” said Jill Mickle, senior director of external relations at Florida Citrus Sports.

The major networks control the kickoff time, and there just isn’t enough time with the new schedule this year, Mickle said, adding the bands have other game day responsibilities like playing for their alumni tailgates.

“We’re sad,” Mickle said. “It’s not that we didn’t want to have it. It’s just timing-wise, it couldn’t happen this year.”

Will the fan-favorite parade return in 2025?

“I certainly hope so,” Mickle said, although she acknowledges she can’t make any guarantees.

WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com