Roswell High School marching band set to play in London in 2020

In this 2015 file photo, Roswell Hornets drummers pump up the crowd before their playoff game against  Collins Hill at Roswell High School Stadium.

Credit: TAMI CHAPPELL

Credit: TAMI CHAPPELL

In this 2015 file photo, Roswell Hornets drummers pump up the crowd before their playoff game against Collins Hill at Roswell High School Stadium.

Roswell High School’s marching band is used to playing under the Friday night lights at football games, but football means something else where they’re going in 2020.

In England, soccer is football. Football is American football.

The confusion is worth it, and the marching Hornet Swarm won’t be playing at a sporting event anyways. But they have booked a trip to head across the pond.

Earlier this month, the band accepted an invitation to play at London’s New Year’s Day Parade and Festival in 2020. The invitation was extended by Robert Bone, the parade’s executive director, and Westminster Councillor Robert Davis.

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Michael Moon, the director of the Roswell band, said that about 80 students will make the trip to London in late 2019, spending Dec. 27 to Jan. 3 in England’s capital. Roswell’s marching band will be one of 16 bands from the United States that will perform in the parade.

Moon, who has been the band’s director for two years, said that Roswell’s marching band was recommended to the parade by other local band directors and then selected by a committee.

By a trip to England for about 80 students won't be cheap. Moon says the trip will cost about $400,000 and fundraising efforts are already underway. Moon said that people can donate directly to the band at roswellband.com.

Roswell's marching band won't be the first from metro Atlanta to make the trip to London. In 2017, Brookwood High's Bronco Marching Band also performed at the New Year's Day parade.

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