The University of Southern Mississippi's Pride of Mississippi Marching Band and the Dixie Darlings will kick off the 2021 football season with Pride Preview, Friday, Aug. 27, at 7 p.m. on the Centennial Green next to Bennett Auditorium on the Hattiesburg campus. The concert is free and open to the public.
Under the direction of Dr. Travis Higa, the event is the traditional opening to Golden Eagle football season. The Pride will be playing their traditional pre-game show and a special preview performance of their first halftime show, featuring music dedicated to first responders for a show that will take the field on September 11.
“This is a special group of students,” said Higa. “Throughout the challenging times we have faced, these dedicated students have shown up in record numbers and given their all to support the university and our Golden Eagles.”
The public is invited to bring lawn chairs, no staked tents are permitted; no vehicles are permitted; and no smoking or chewing tobacco is permitted on campus. Face masks are encouraged.
In case of significant rain, the event will be cancelled.
Since the band's founding in 1920 as a 20-piece brass ensemble, The Pride of Mississippi has evolved into an impressive and highly respected marching band of more than 300 members. Having marched for such events as one of President Franklin Roosevelt's inaugural parades, the Chicago World's Fair, Senior Bowl Classic football games, Blue-Gray football games and professional football games, The Pride was one of the most televised marching bands in the South during the 1970s and 1980s.
Unlike most bands of previous days, The Pride was not limited to a common instrumentation of brasses and woodwinds. In the 1950s, the band was accompanied by a bagpipe ensemble along with the Southern Belles dance/drill team, then later the Dixie Darlings. Regarded as one of the nation's finest university marching bands, The Pride has performed in Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Green Bay, Wis., and throughout Mississippi for competitive band contests, festivals and professional football games, and an international performance in Ireland for the Saint Patrick's Day celebration.
For more information about the Pride Preview concert, contact University Bands at 601.266.4990; email USMBands@usm.edu; or visit usm.edu.band.
About The University of Southern Mississippi
The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) is a comprehensive public research institution delivering transformative programs on campuses in Hattiesburg and Long Beach, at teaching and research sites across the Mississippi Gulf Coast, as well as online. Founded in 1910, USM is one of only 131 universities in the nation to earn the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education’s "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity” designation, and its robust research enterprise includes experts in ocean science and engineering, polymer science and engineering, and large event venue safety and security, among others. USM is also one of only 37 institutions in the nation accredited in theatre, art and design, dance and music. As an economic driver, USM generates an annual economic impact of more than $600 million across the state. USM welcomes a diverse student body of more than 14,000, representing 71 countries, all 50 states, and every county in Mississippi. USM students have collected four Truman Scholarships and 37 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, while also leading Mississippi with 27 Goldwater Scholarships, an honor that recognizes the next generation of great research scientists. Home to the Golden Eagles, USM competes in 17 Division I sports sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). For more information, visit usm.edu.
