FHS students to perform in National Memorial Day Parade

Flandreau High Schools band and choir have been selected to represent South Dakota in the 2026 National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C. The rare opportunity will give dozens of local students the chance to perform on a national stage during the nations 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Students who will be in 8th12th grade band or 9th12th grade choir next school year will be eligible for the trip, which is expected to include several performances and visits to historic sites throughout the nations capital.
This trip and parade is a huge opportunity for our students, said Flandreau School band director Pat Weight.
Next year is the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, so it is very special that our students will get to be in the nations capital to celebrate this huge milestone. To cap that off, they will get to represent our town of Flandreau and the great state of South Dakota on a national stage. According to the parade organizers, the students will be able to perform in front of crowds numbering in the hundreds of thousands.
The parade is also scheduled to be broadcast on Discoverys Military Channel, the Pentagon Channel, American Forces Network, YouTube and Facebook.
Students will also have the opportunity to attend the National Memorial Day Concert on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, featuring the National Symphony Orchestra. That event will be broadcast live on PBS.
I received an email that Senator Rounds office was looking for bands that were interested in being nominated to march in this parade, said Weight. I filled out the application, giving information about our band and some of the awards our band has received in the past four years. Then, on March 24th, I received an email saying that we were nominated by Senator Mike Rounds to be an Official Representative of South Dakota in the 2026 National Memorial Day Parade.
The music director credits the students and the community for helping make this possible.
Im very happy that our students will be able to have this experience. It will take a lot of time in preparation and fundraising, but our students are extremely talented and hardworking. On top of that, the community of Flandreau, along with Flandreau Public Schools and the Flandreau Music Boosters have created such a supportive environment for the arts in our town that I know our students will be successful and represent us all very well.