NCCU, Western Carolina marching bands prepare for Rose Parade

SYLVA, N.C. — Marching bands from two of North Carolina's public universities are hitting the road to perform in the Rose Parade on New Year's Day.

Hundreds of members of the Western Carolina University and North Carolina Central University marching bands were scheduled to leave Tuesday. The bands are among 22 from as far away as Japan to march in the annual, nationally telecast parade in Pasadena, Calif., on Saturday.

"I can't wait to see the faces on these kids when they turn down Colorado Boulevard" in Pasadena, Western Carolina athletic bands director Bob Buckner told the Asheville Citizen-Times.

The band from the university high in the Appalachian Mountains sought a Rose Parade invitation after winning the John Philip Sousa Foundation's 2009 Sudler Trophy, given yearly to the country's top college band.

NCCU, Western Carolina marching bands prepare for Rose Parade :: WRAL.com