Aug 8, 2024 - Music

Watch St. Aug's Marching 100 perform for 80th D-Day anniversary parade

Chelsea Brasted

St. Augustine High School marching band students march in a Mardi Gras parade. Two of them hold a banner with the school name at the front of the band. — The St. Augustine High School Marching 100 head down the Uptown route for Bacchus 2013. Photo: Skip Bolen/Getty Images

When St. Augustine High School's Marching 100 band visited France earlier this year to perform for the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Ebony magazine had a film crew along for the journey.

Why it matters: The resulting mini-docuseries is out now, and you can stream it online.

Catch up quick: Arguably New Orleans' most famous and most beloved high school marching band, the Marching 100 were invited to participate in a commemorative parade after St. Aug alumnus Don Francisco first got the invitation.

Instead, he said he knew of another band who might be a better fit, according to Ebony, and who could help honor the armed forces involved in the storming of the beaches at Normandy on June 6, 1944.
That meant a nine-day journey for the band, plus guest band leader Jon Batiste, according to a press release.
Ebony created a three-part short documentary out of the experience, which focuses on the band's history, the dedication its level of excellence requires and the experience band members had in France.

Go deeper: Watch the docuseries on Ebony's website.

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Watch St. Aug's Marching 100 perform for 80th D-Day anniversary parade

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