When Oak Harbor High School students Abigail Giugliano and Bradley Price II slip on their red, white and blue Bands of America Honor Band uniforms to march in the 2026 Rose Parade, they will be the first students from Oak Harbor, ever, and two of three from Washington that year to do so.
“It’s exciting news, to be the first ones from here that we know of,” Giugliano said. “I don’t think it’ll feel real until I get there.”
Held annually on Jan. 1, the Rose Parade is a celebration of the new year and precedes the Rose Bowl, a college football playoff game. Nineteen marching bands from across the country and around the world are featured in the upcoming parade, including one from Japan and one from Mexico.
Giugliano, a 17-year-old member of the color guard, and Price, a 15-year-old trumpet player, will march for Bands of America, a nonprofit music organization working to educate and inspire students through music and performance opportunities, like with the Honor Band. This will be the 300-piece Honor Band’s sixth appearance in the Rose Parade.
As part of the Honor Band’s goal to represent all 50 states as a national ensemble in the upcoming parade, Giugliano and Price said anybody who signed up could join. Both students filled out and submitted their application, along with their band director’s recommendation, by Nov. 1 and were notified of their acceptance earlier this year.
The opportunity is a major achievement for Giugliano and Price regardless. Neither student has played in a parade of comparable size or prestige —according to Pasadena Now, “an estimated 800,000 people” gathered to glimpse the spectacle. The 2026 Rose Parade will be the 137th in history.
“We’ve had in-town parades, but I’ve never done anything on that scale or on national television or anything,” Price said.
As Giugliano explained, she and Price regularly receive emails including music and choreography to learn, allowing them to prepare for their performance remotely. Then, everyone in the Honor Band will meet in California on Dec. 27 for in-person rehearsals and other activities leading up to the parade itself.
Price said the Honor Band will perform several tunes including Foo Fighters’ “Times Like These.”
Funding what will end up being a $3,600 trip — six days and seven nights in a hotel, plus meal, uniform, equipment and transportation expenses — is left entirely to the students. Although Price earned a scholarship to cover some of that cost, he and Giugliano still need to raise money.
Shirts and sweatshirts can be purchased at bradley-and-abigail.printify.me to raise money. Each student is also collecting donations for independent trip funds.
