Under the direction of Thomas Philips, the Mayfair High School Marching Corps comes from Lakewood, California but also represents the communities of Bellflower and Cerritos.  Celebrating its 50th Anniversary, the band returns to the Hollywood Christmas Parade for its third consecutive appearance.  In the past ten years, the band has received over 750 awards for its marching and music excellence, including being named California State Band Champions in 2007 for their field performance.

In fond memory of Marvin Marker

"Your love of music will resound forever.  Your passing leaves a hole in all our hearts!"

For 55 years, Mr. Marvin Marker has directed the Long Beach Junior Concert Band and this year is no exception.

Sadly, Marvin past away on Sunday December 6th, 2009, one week after the 2009 Hollywood Christmas Parade. His legacy:  one of the best bands in the country, and the many lives he impacted for the better.

The Long Beach Jr. Concert Band performs in parades throughout Southern California all year long.  If the group looks familiar it’s because they have participated in the Hollywood Christmas Parade for at least four decades and have ushered in the Santa Claus float for many of those years.

This band may well be our youngest group in quite some time, but don’t let their age fool you.  The Dana Middle School Marching Band from San Pedro, California won their first musical Sweepstakes award last year at the Hawaiian Gardens Anniversary Parade.  In addition, they have received numerous 1st place awards at parades throughout Southern California including South Gate, Alhambra, Stanton, Santa Fe Springs and San Pedro.  The band is under the direction of Efrain Nava.

The Santa Ana Winds Youth Band was formed in 1971 and four years later appointed by the county Board of Supervisors as the “Official Ambassadors of Music for Orange County.”  This band has travelled to Europe, Canada, Mexico and across the United States performing at various functions.  In addition, the Winds have performed in thousands of local community events in Southern California.  Throughout its existence, over 4,000 members have performed in the band, including its current director Greg Rochford.

Under the direction of G. James Miller is the Frank Scott Bunnell High School Marching Band from Stratford, Connecticut.  This band has an impressive resume having been Connecticut State Champions for nine times.  Since 2001, this group has been to Southern California three times, including a 2005 performance at the Hollywood Christmas Parade as well as earning Grand Champions at the Bands at the Bowl competition.  Other notable events for this band are the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Citrus Bowl.

The Concord High School Minuteman Marching Band and Auxiliary Units, under the direction of Gary Coartney, comes from Concord, California.  This award winning group has recently received Sweepstakes and 1st place awards at several competitions including the Walnut Festival, Antioch Band Review, Santa Cruz Band Review and Oakland Holiday Parade.  They are also 3 time Gold Medal winners and have received Sweepstakes awards in Wind Band, Jazz Ensemble and Overall Instrumental Music.

Under the direction of James Woodson, the Banning High School Mighty Marching Pilots from Wilmington, California has appeared in countless parades and performances throughout the Southland.  The band and auxiliary team are one of the top show groups in the western United States and have won hundreds of trophies.  The group has also appeared in music videos, Made for TV movies and television sitcoms.  In addition, the group performed at the 2000 Democratic National Convention when it was held in Los Angeles.