WASHINGTON — First of all, your group’s routine can’t involve explosives or pyrotechnics, for security reasons.
If you’re a band, you shouldn’t play “The Star-Spangled Banner” or “Hail to the Chief.” Those tunes are taken.
And you are not permitted to stop at the presidential reviewing stand in front of the White House: This isn’t a talent show, bub, and you had better keep it moving.
Also, if you want to march or perform in the Jan. 20 inaugural parade, you had better hurry. The application deadline has been extended to 5 p.m. Tuesday, in part because of the flood of interest from groups wanting to join the celebration honoring President-elect Barack Obama.
The Armed Forces Inaugural Committee, the organization in charge of collecting applications, said last week it was receiving 10 applications an hour and had more than 400 so far.
“We can’t hazard an estimate on how many we’ll have by (the) deadline,” Navy Lt. Mike Billips, a committee spokesman, said in an e-mail. For the last inauguration, 47 civilian marching bands were selected from 343 applicants.
Selection for the inaugural parade is an honor, organizers and past participants say. It will be especially so this time, with the installation of the nation’s first African-American president.
“It would mean the world to us,” said Darrell Watson, director of the 90-member Marching Knights of D.C.’s Ballou High School, which applied last week.
“I voted for the first time this year, and I would get to do more than just vote,” said Janell Heggins, 19, a member of Howard University’s 140-member Showtime Marching Band, which has also applied. “I would get to be a part of history.”
The 2005 inaugural parade included military, college and high-school marching bands, an equestrian drill team, military honor guards, a juggler, a jump-rope team, cadets from Virginia Military Institute and an all-star pompom team, among others.
No lingering is allowed at the White House reviewing stand.
“It’s not the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade,” said Navy Cmdr. Craig Kujawa, head of the military committee’s ceremonies division. “There is expressly no stopping.”
