Dutch bicycle-riding marching band makes U.S. premiere at Holland’s Tulip Time
Bicycle Showband Crescendo, a bicycling-riding marching band from the Netherlands, wowed Tulip Time crowds during the group’s first visit to the U.S.
A Dutch bicycling marching band made its U.S. premiere during Holland’s 94th annual Tulip Time Festival with a unique performance.
Bicycle Showband Crescendo, a band from the village of Opende in the Netherlands,
entertained thousands of spectators with six 30-minute performances, including at the Volksparade, on the weekend of May 12-14.
Crescendo is no ordinary marching band. Every instrumentalist, from piccolos to tubas, sported wooden shoes and dressed in traditional Volendam (Dutch) attire. The 40-member band played a variety of showband pieces, including Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” the “Mission Impossible” theme song and Paul Simon’s “America,” with complex and flowing choreography while performing on bicycles on the field of Hope College’s Ray and Sue Smith Stadium.
The cycling musicians, the only mounted band of its kind, have played all over Europe and Asia, collecting awards at world showband competitions. The Tulip Time Festival was the band’s first performance in the United States in its 101-year history.
Though final attendance figures won’t be available for weeks, Tulip Time organizers are “pleasantly fatigued” with this year’s festival. Next year’s 95th Tulip Time Festival is scheduled to begin on May 4, 2024.
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