Sights and sounds from the 2023 Silver Spring Thanksgiving Parade

Blair Band

Photo: The Blair marching band performs "Sweet Caroline" for the crowd.

The Blair marching band performs "Sweet Caroline" for the crowd. Photo courtesy of Hannah Hekhuis.

When it comes to parades, people have very high expectations. However, it’s safe to say that the 2023 Thanksgiving parade lived up to the hype and was truly enjoyable.

The parade began with the Blake High School marching band. Soon, the classic large turkey float made an early appearance giving people some excitement before the politicians rolled around. As elected local officials like Chris Van Vollen, David Trone, and Angela Alsobrooks walked down, cheers from both sides of the street encapsulated the parade route.

The Northwest High School marching band was spotted in between the politicians. They were followed by the fan-favorite Bowie State marching band. 

Then it was time for the Blazer marching band, which strolled down the street with their eye-catching “Montgomery Blair High School Blazer Music” banner. The familiar marching band chant of “Go Blazers,” aroused the crowd with cheers like “Yes Blair!”

After Blair’s thrilling performance, numerous scout groups started to attract many children with one thing – candy. In fact, for the entire day, every time candy was thrown from a vehicle or from a bag, there would be little children tagging along to it on the side of the road. However, the sweeter part of the parade came when Montgomery Parks handed out dozens of bubble bottles to little children and started a bubble frenzy. Montgomery Parks also caught many eyes with their hilariously animated chipmunk, carrot, and tree mascots.

Ethan, an 11 year-old who represented Cub Scout Pack 209 enjoyed the different mascots and liked their uniqueness. “They were pretty cool, some of them were pretty creative ideas. Like one of them had a DIY campfire,” he said.

Along with the chipmunk, a surprise appearance came from a new Thanksgiving parade addition, Captain Maryland. This mascot awkwardly silenced the loud cheers from the crowd but was nonetheless entertaining with his Old Bay badge and Maryland-themed, Captain America-inspired helmet.

One of the best highlights of the parade undoubtedly came from a Bolivian Caporales dance group which danced to "Bella Mestiza" by Angela Bedrillana and "Mix Amaru" by Yaira. This performance shined with the performers’ unique clothes and rhythmic on-beat dance moves, getting everyone to tap their feet. Federico, a 49 year-old performer with the group when asked about their preparation said “We practiced every Thursday and Sunday for about two hours,” he said.

After the Bolivian dance group strutted the parade, the Clarksburg High School Marching band performed phenomenal instrumental adaptations of Narco by Blasterjaxx & Timmy Trumpet and Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes. The 2023 Montgomery County Thanksgiving Parade included great dance spectacles and marching band performances, as well as very delicious candy, living up to its role of having something for everyone.