NC State’s marching band, the Power Sound of the South, performed in the Raleigh Christmas Parade on Saturday for the first time in about 50 years, according to Emily Matthews, a band assistant and senior studying religious studies.

“They’ve been asking us for quite a few years to come march in the parade,” said Kane Gooden, a junior studying aerospace engineering.

Due to the band’s scheduling conflicts with football games, they have not been able to march in the parade for many years.

“It’s kind of an awkward time for us to perform since it’s so close to Thanksgiving break and because it’s during football season,” said Rhiannon Crisp, a sophomore studying polymer and color chemistry.

The band director, John Fullen, does not like to overwhelm the band members and is understanding of their schedule, according to Gooden.

“He sent out a vote to see who wanted to participate, and the majority of the people wanted to go,” Gooden said.

About 300 students marched along Hillsborough and Fayetteville streets performing a Christmas medley, the fight song and “Cabalgata de Reyes,” a song the Power Sound of the South also played when it marched in a parade in Madrid, Spain.

“The people in the crowd threw up the Wolfpack sign as we marched by and clapped along,” Crisp said.  

The band’s participation in the parade was a chance for the Raleigh community to see the Power Sound of the South outside of the typical football setting, Gooden said.

“A lot of the community may not come to the games or see us perform anywhere,” Gooden said. “I think we showed the Raleigh area what NC State is about and gave them a taste of the students here on campus.”

NC State has had six marching bands in its history, and two still exist today: the Power Sound of the South and the Pipes and Drums.