"This is a really special experience for our band," said marching band drum major Cole Fisher.
Fisher said he’s excited to be representing San Luis Obispo at such a big event.
"I am responsible for conducting the band, their music, teaching them musical things, teaching them how to march," explained Fisher.
"This is us representing our university. This is representing our city with a really, really large audience watching this, and that's their impression of what Cal Poly is, what San Luis Obispo is — is our marching band. So we get to be the image that they have of our community," he said.
This year's Pride of the Pacific is made up of students from throughout Cal Poly's six colleges, from music majors to engineers, and features a Tinker Bell-esque twirler, who is followed by the color guard lofting colorful flags, and the 208-member band.
The procession along the mile-long route includes 130 floats, lion/dragon dance teams, marching bands, and cultural performance groups, as well as the show-stopping 288-foot “Golden Dragon” and lots of fireworks and attracts 100,000 spectators and a television audience estimated at 3 million throughout the U.S., Canada and Asia.
