Courtesy of Destination Events
Key Points
- The Apopka High School Blue Darter Marching Band performed in the London New Year’s Day Parade on January 1, 2025, playing a medley of two songs.
- The Wekiva High School Marching Mustangs traveled to New Orleans for the Allstate Sugar Bowl New Year’s Eve Parade, funded partly by a $25,000 grant.
- Wekiva High School’s band won five awards, including Outstanding Drum Major.
The Apopka High School Blue Darter Marching Band and the Wekiva High School Marching Mustangs performed in London and Louisiana, respectively, during Christmas break.
“These incredible experiences for our students do not come easy,” said Melissa Byrd, Orange County School Board member for District 7, in her latest column for The Apopka Chief. “They take months of fundraising and organizing from parents, boosters, community members and very dedicated teachers like Mr. Langford and Mr. Petty, the band directors at Apopka and Wekiva, respectively.”
The Blue Darters performed a medley of “Orange Blossom Song” and “You Are My Sunshine” on Jan. 1 at the London New Year’s Day Parade.
“We marched right down Picadilly Circus in London, through Trafalgar Square, on to Whitehall Street, by #10 Downing Street and lastly by Big Ben,” Apopka band director Jeremy Langford said in a Jan. 1 Facebook post.
Langford’s wife, Marla Langford, serves as the school’s media specialist. She said the organizers of the London parade first contacted the school in the summer of 2024, after watching the band’s performance in the 2024 National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade.
According to the slide presentation from the Oct. 23, 2024, informational session, the parade draws approximately 750,000 spectators in person and 600 million TV viewers.
Marla Langford also said students visited iconic United Kingdom destinations on the trip, such as St. Paul’s Cathedral, the University of Oxford and Westminster Abbey.
“Many of our groups… went out to create amazing, lifelong memories for our world travelers!” Jeremy Langford said in a Dec. 29 Facebook post. “So proud that they are taking a chance and learning through discovering our world!”
The band director also wished the Marching Mustangs well as they traveled to New Orleans to perform in the Allstate Sugar Bowl New Year’s Eve Parade.
“It is profoundly rewarding to witness these young musicians venture beyond the familiar, embracing opportunities that will shape their personal and professional trajectories,” said Wekiva band director Jonté Petty in a Dec. 30 Facebook post. “Such experiences affirm the enduring value of arts education as a catalyst for critical thinking, creativity, and community engagement.”
The Marching Mustangs traveled to New Orleans in a partnership with WorldStrides, which offers “immersive learning adventures” to students in kindergarten through college. According to Byrd, Wekiva reached its funding goal in December, when the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools granted the band the last $25,000 it needed for the trip.
Wekiva won the following five awards from the trip:
- Parade Competition—Outstanding Drum Major, Class AA
- Parade Competition—Outstanding General Effect, Class AA
- Field Show Competition—3rd Place, Class AA
- Parade Competition—3rd Place, Class AA
- Halftime Participation
“The Marching Mustangs have set the bar high for 2026,” Wekiva High School principal Anthony Russell said in his Monday e-newsletter. “They have shown us that when you dig deep and forge ahead, you don’t just finish the race—you come home with the gold.”