SEMO Marching Band selected for 2028 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin

FOX23 News at 9 p.m.

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) — Southeast Missouri State University’s marching band already knows it is heading to Dublin in 2028. Now, university leaders are giving a clearer picture of just how significant that invitation is — and what the trip could mean for nearly 200 students.

Nicholas Kenney, chair of music and professor of music at SEMO, said only about 12 bands from around the world are invited to participate in Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, with typically around two coming from the United States.

“It’s huge,” Kenney said. “They invite 12 bands from around the world. Generally about two from the United States, give or take. And so it’s a competitive process.”

SEMO’s band staff began working on its application over the summer after organizers connected with the program and encouraged it to apply.

Kenney said the application process included performance videos, photographs showing what the band would look like in uniform on the streets and a letter of support from the university president, among other materials.

Even after being approached, Kenney said there was no guarantee SEMO would be selected.

The university received what he described as a “soft invite” about six weeks before its official invitation arrived last week.

“It means that our students are performing at very high levels,” he said. “It means that they’re meeting standards that nationally represent well.”

He pointed to other regional universities that have received invitations in recent years, including the University of Missouri and Missouri State University.

But for many students, the significance of the trip will extend far beyond the performance itself.

Kenney said the marching band has nearly 200 members. When the group recently asked students how many had ever traveled on an airplane, about half had not.

“For those students to get an opportunity to not only go on an airplane, but leave the country for the first time, it’s a big deal,” Kenney said. “They’ll get to learn a lot about life as it is outside of the heartland here.”

Because the parade is still about a year and a half away, SEMO is also making plans to include students whose time in the band falls between now and the trip.

Kenney said current members who graduate before 2028 will be invited to return as alumni and participate. Students who join the program before the trip, including future incoming classes, will also have an opportunity to go.

Once in Dublin, the musicians will perform before one of the largest crowds many of them have ever experienced.

Kenney said roughly 500,000 people attend the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and line the streets of Dublin.

“I think the gravity of it all won’t sink in until they’re there,” he said. “That’s what I’m personally, as an administrator, looking forward to — the students experiencing something like that.”

Before the band heads overseas, the invitation itself will receive another international touch.

Kenney said representatives from Ireland are expected to travel to Southeast Missouri State University for a formal ceremony recognizing the band’s selection.

A date for that ceremony has not yet been set.