Parade of Bands canceled for second year

The future of the Pop-Tart Bowl tradition that brought crowds to Winter Park is still uncertain

Aug. 12, 2025

By Gabrielle Russon

Paul Canchester, a retiree from the Chicago suburbs, has brought his family to Winter Park to watch the Parade of Bands for years as part of their annual Orlando vacation. The memories started when his kids, now adults, were young.

He described the anticipation waiting for the two university bands in town for the Pop-Tart Bowl shutting down the entire Winter Park downtown to play for free to the big crowd.

“Goodness, it was such excitement,” Canchester said. “We got a seat along Park Avenue and you could hear them playing before you could see them. You knew they were coming because you could hear the music a block or two away. And then it gradually got louder and louder, and then they came around the corner, and there they were, lined up with their uniforms on and playing their music. It was fantastic.”

Canchester said he is disappointed and fears it might not return after the city confirmed to Winter Park Voice that the parade is canceled for the second year in a row. 

“The residents love it. The tourists love it,” Canchester said. “I hope they can find a time for the bands to play.”

Similar to last year, the parade is a casualty because of the game’s timing in the evolving college football playoffs.

One city official expressed hope the parade might return in 2026 or 2027 and said the Winter Park will always be a happy Parade of Bands host — whenever that may be.

The game’s weekend afternoon start time – 3:30 p.m., Dec. 27 – makes it logistically impossible to transport the bands to Winter Park for the parade, feed them lunch and then send them off for their other responsibilities for the bowl game, Miller said. 

“It just makes it a really tight schedule,” said Johnny Miller, Winter Park’s special events manager, adding the kickoff time is decided by the TV networks. “It’s not in our control or the Pop-Tart Bowl’s control. … Sometimes the lower tier bowls, they get what they get.”

Already, Miller’s phone is ringing as people wonder about the parade’s status even though it’s too early to know which teams are playing in the game.

Somebody even called Winter Park last year, inquiring if another city could poach the parade.

“I don’t want them to think Winter Park doesn’t want to do it,” Miller said.

The Parade of Bands became an annual tradition dating back to 2007 and easily drew at least 2,000 or more — especially if a Florida team was playing in Camping World Stadium.

College football underwent a major change when it expanded to a 12-team playoff bracket in the 2024-25 season. There is talk of more bowl games getting added to the playoffs which could potentially shake up the Pop-Tart Bowl so it ends up in a more high-profile, later time slot to bring back the parade, Miller said.

Miller said it’s unclear the timeline for the proposed playoff expansion.

“It could happen next year. It may be two more years,” Miller said. “Nobody knows.”

But he added the city will welcome back the Parade of Bands as soon as it can.

“It’ll always have a home here,” Miller said.

WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com

Gabrielle Russon is a freelance reporter and former reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, where she covered K-12 education, colleges and universities and the tourism industry. She lives in Orlando with her family and writes about politics, education, theme parks and the courts.