The Krewe of Bacchus has announced that the St. Augustine High School Marching 100 Alumni Band will be added to its lineup for the 2027 Carnival season, marking the first time the alumni ensemble has ever marched in a major New Orleans parade. The announcement lands as St. Augustine celebrates its 75th anniversary, and organizers have commissioned a special coin to commemorate the pairing of Bacchus and the Marching 100.
According to WGNO, the St. Augustine High School Marching Band's Facebook page captioned the news by saying Mardi Gras 2027 is about to look a little different, teasing the alumni band's Bacchus debut. The station reports that the alumni ensemble brings together generations of Purple Knights in brotherhood, tradition and pride, though the specific parade designation for the alumni band has not yet been announced.
Krewe of Bacchus will roll through New Orleans on February 7, 2027, per the same report, and bands officials say at least 34 bands are expected to participate in the parade overall. Bacchus itself has long stood apart on the Carnival calendar: founded in 1968 by New Orleans business leaders, the krewe staged its inaugural parade in February 1969, establishing what The Historic New Orleans Collection calls Carnival's first modern super krewe, complete with celebrity king Danny Kaye and oversized floats.
A Band Rooted in Civil Rights History
St. Augustine High School was founded in 1951 by the Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, known as the Josephite Fathers and Brothers, through the Archdiocese of New Orleans as a secondary school dedicated to educating young Black Catholic men, according to the school's own historical records. The Marching 100 itself formed the following year, in 1952, under legendary band director Edwin “Hamp” Hampton, and officially adopted its now-iconic name in 1960 when the ensemble marched with exactly 100 members, per Marching.com.
The band's place in New Orleans history runs deeper than music. On February 7, 1967, the Marching 100 became the first all-Black marching band to integrate the city's main-line Mardi Gras parades when it marched in the Krewe of Rex parade on Fat Tuesday, a milestone documented by The Clarion Herald. That single afternoon on the parade route helped break Carnival segregation barriers that had defined the city's celebrations for generations.
From the Superdome to Normandy
The Marching 100's résumé extends far beyond New Orleans streets. Over its history the band has performed for eight U.S. presidents, played for Pope John Paul II at the Superdome in 1987, and marched in both the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Tournament of Roses Parade, according to WWL-TV. More recently, in June 2024, 112 student musicians traveled to Normandy, France, to perform at official ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day, a trip covered by EBONY Magazine.
The active student band has kept up that pace at home, too. It performed during opening-night festivities for Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans in February 2025 and was profiled on CBS's 60 Minutes back in March 2021, per a Showtime Web report. That same account notes the band currently maintains around 128 student musicians and named St. Augustine alumnus Darren Rodgers, who joined the Marching 100 as a student in 2006, as Director of Bands in 2025.
A Grueling Carnival Schedule
Keeping up the Marching 100's reputation takes a toll on its young musicians. During the 2026 Mardi Gras season, the active student band completed a schedule of 10 total parades, including a stretch of six parades on six consecutive days, according to the same Showtime Web account. That endurance test underscores what the alumni band is signing up for as it steps into its own Carnival spotlight for the first time.
Hoodline previously reported that the active Marching 100 performed at the grand opening of Wilcox Academy, the $9 million Central City early learning center on Washington Avenue, showing the band's reach extends well beyond parade routes and football fields. With the school's 75th anniversary now colliding with a first-ever Bacchus appearance for its alumni musicians, New Orleans will have another reason to watch the Marching 100 legacy continue when Bacchus rolls on February 7, 2027.
