Nearly 400 members of the Blugold Marching Band at UW-Eau Claire found out on September 30 that they are headed to New York City to perform in the 101st Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, becoming the first college marching band from Wisconsin ever chosen for the event. The announcement came as a total surprise, sprung on the students right after rehearsal.
Ed Martini delivered the news to the 395-member ensemble in Eau Claire, calling it “an immense honor for UW-Eau Claire and the BMB alike, and the largest stage we will ever have to perform on.” The Blugold Marching Band was selected from more than 100 applicants nationwide, and it marks just the ninth time in the parade's century-long history that a Wisconsin ensemble has taken part — though the first time a collegiate group from the state has done so.
As reported by Spectrum News 1, band director Kara Metzger — now in her second season leading the BMB — applied to be part of the parade in secret, managing the lengthy application process alongside a small group of people and keeping the outcome hidden from students until the surprise reveal. “We've done NFL games, Bands of America Grand Nationals and many international performances,” assistant director David Lofy said of the band's resume, which includes three NFL halftime shows, according to the Blugold Marching Band's own application page — two for the Green Bay Packers and one for the Minnesota Vikings.
A Director Who's Walked This Route Before
Metzger isn't new to the Macy's parade route herself — she previously marched in it as part of Macy's Great American Marching Band, giving her a personal stake in getting her own students there. She said the Blugolds “are talented musicians and marchers” who deserve the opportunity, a sentiment echoed by assistant director David Lofy, an alumnus of both UW-Eau Claire and its marching band who also marched in the Macy's parade himself as a member of the Madison Scouts drum corps.
Lofy said the invitation puts the BMB and UW-Eau Claire on the national stage in a new way. That stage is enormous: the parade draws roughly 3 million spectators along the streets of Manhattan and reaches more than 50 million television viewers, according to FloMarching.
Fundraising Effort Now Underway
Macy's sent the Blugold Marching Band a $10,000 check to kick-start fundraising, according to WQOW, but that's just a starting point for what the station describes as a massive fundraising effort needed to send a roughly 400-member band and all its equipment to the Big Apple. Typically, Macy's selects about 10 to 12 ensembles each year for the parade, according to WEAU, with bands applying online and submitting full-field show footage for review by Macy's Band Selection Committee.
The Blugolds aren't alone in next year's lineup. The University of Arkansas Razorback Marching Band was also selected for the 101st parade after a process that drew more than 100 applicants, and Macy's likewise gave that band a $10,000 donation to jumpstart its own fundraising, according to the University of Arkansas. Florida State University's Marching Chiefs will make history too, becoming the first collegiate marching band from Florida to perform in the parade, with roughly 420 members expected to travel to New York and the school's College of Music launching a $1 million fundraising campaign, per Florida State University.
For now, the Blugold Marching Band's focus turns to raising the funds needed to get nearly 400 students and their instruments from Eau Claire to Manhattan for Thanksgiving 2027. It's a logistical lift matched by the scale of the moment: a hometown college band, selected out of a national field, set to march down the same streets as some of the country's biggest collegiate programs.
