Mustang Band in San Francisco

The Mustang Band marched in this year's San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade. | Photo: Ian Billings

On Nov. 1, the Mustang Band was honored to perform for the dedication of the Warren J. Baker Center for Science & Mathematics. Little did the band know that its campus performance would lead to an invitation to perform in the Feb. 15 San Francisco Southwest Airlines Chinese New Year Parade, the largest New Year’s celebration outside of China.

Among the guests at the Baker Center dedication ceremony were Lawrence and Gorretti Lui, who are connected to both Cal Poly and the artistic and cultural community of San Francisco. So impressed were they by the band’s performance that the Luis lobbied for the Mustang Band to appear in the Chinese New Year Parade.

After a flurry of phone calls, emails and application documents, the Mustang Band was officially invited to take part in the high-profile event — one of only two university bands at the parade.

The 210 members of The Pride of the Pacific, accompanied by the Cal Poly Stunt Team, were one of nearly 100 parade entries on the two-mile route. The band finished its march at the Chinese Cultural Center, performing for a group of dignitaries, including San Francisco’s mayor, Edwin Lee.

Parade judges were impressed with the Mustang Band’s performance, awarding the group first place in the adult marching band category.

The Chinese community of San Francisco started the Chinese New Year Parade in the 1860s, with the goal of educating and sharing its culture with the larger community. Today the parade hosts nearly one million attendees and is broadcast internationally in at least three languages. The International Festivals and Events Association named the San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade one of the top 10 parades in the world.