Question: In 1989, the French government chose FAMU’s Marching 100 as the official U.S. representative in what famous parade?
Answer: The Bastille Day Parade in Paris.
In 1989, France marked the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution, and the French government picked FAMU’s Marching 100 to represent the United States in its Bastille Day Parade. The Tallahassee band high-stepped down the Champs-Élysées in front of millions of television viewers worldwide.
The band didn’t play traditional march music for the occasion. It marched and danced to James Brown instead.
The invitation came four years after the Marching 100 won the Sudler Trophy, often called the Heisman of college marching bands. FAMU was the first band from a historically Black university to receive it. The man behind it all was William P. Foster, who started with just 16 students in 1946 and led the band for more than 50 years.
