Special to Iredell Free News

The Lake Norman High School Marching Wildcats will be performing in the London New Year’s Day Parade on January 1, 2024.

After three years of hard work and fundraising, the time has finally arrived and is only a couple weeks away. Over 300 students and families will travel to London to represent Lake Norman High School.

The London New Year’s Day Parade is the biggest New Year’s Day parade in the world with over 750,000 people attending live and over 500 million watching on TV.

The London New Year’s Day Parade began in 1987 with 2,000 performers and has grown to nearly 10,000 performers in recent years. The participants come from across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. The parade route is 2 miles long. It begins at the London Ritz Hotel, passes through Regent Street, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, and finishes at Westminster.

The Lake Norman High School Marching Wildcats is one of only 20 high school bands from the United States selected to perform.

You can tune in to the live broadcast on PBS or the London New Year’s Parade website to watch the parade.