The 48th Annual Bayou Classic Events, Notes, and Facts

The 48th Annual Bayou Classic event notes and facts.

The 48th Annual Bayou Classic event notes and facts.

BATTLE OF THE BANDS

The 48th Annual Bayou Classic was "coming in hot" on Friday night in Caesars Superdome where the Grambling State Tigers and Southern University marching bands were featured in the "Battle of the Bands and Greek Show."  The stadium had a great crowd to witness the two legendary bands and traditional greek organizations to put on exciting shows.

Credit: USA Today Sports

PARADE

This morning, the Annual Bayou Classic Parade with commence at 9:30 AM.   The procession will have ten floats and 30 total units.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• This will be the first parade for area high schools since Mardi Gras 2020. High school band directors are saying, “The Bayou Classic Parade is kickstarting our entire parading season.”
• Participation by all of the top New Orleans area high school bands including LB Landry High School, St. Augustine High School and their Marching 100, Edna Karr High School, McDonogh 35, Sophie B Wright High School and Warren Easton High School.
• As traditionally done, one out-of-state group will be in the parade. The Kansas City Marching Cobras Drum & Drill Team will be returning for their second Bayou Classic Parade. Leader Gregg James is a Southern alum.
• This will be the first appearance of Louisiana Bike Life, with an expected 80-100 member krewe riding custom cruiser bikes. There will be a special “Southern Jaguars” bike.
• The Grand Marshall for this year’s Annual Bayou Classic Parade is Mayor of the City of New Orleans, LaToya Cantrell.

Route details: Parade begins on Elysian Fields Avenue at N. Peters Street; proceeds down N. Peters St onto Decatur Street; turns right on Canal Street; turns left on St Charles Avenue; turns right on Poydras Street; turns right on Loyola Avenue; parade ends at Duncan Plaza located on Loyola Avenue at Perdido Street.

Bayou Classic Fan Festival: 11:30 am – 3:30 pm

The “Embrace the Culture” Stage is presented by The City of New Orleans, Office of Cultural Economy and the New Orleans Tourism and Cultural Fund

Where: Champions Square at the Caesars Superdome

An extremely popular pre-game celebration where live musical performances and entertainment get the crowd warmed up for the game. The schedule of performers for this year includes:

• HaSizzle
• HD4President
• Mouse On Tha Track
• Water Seed
• Raj Smoove
• DJ Jubilee
• glbl wrmng
• Brass-A-Holics
• TBC BrassBand
• DJ Retro

Fan Fest will be hosted by Courtney Mpagi of WBOK 1230 AM.

Students from the Central Creativity Robotics program will showcase the robots they built from reusable parts. This program fosters PreK-12 students' creativity via the development of educational robotics in a dynamic, innovative and immersive atmosphere. The robots that will be on display at Fan Fest are those that have been built and recognized as part of the organization’s robotics build competitions.

Fan Fest attendees will also enjoy sponsor activations and special giveaways throughout the event.

The Southern Jaguars versus Grambling Tigers halftime report from the 48th Annual Bayou Classic

The 48th Annual Bayou Classic

Presented by Procter & Gamble: 4:00 pm (doors open at 2:30 pm) at Caesars Superdome

More than 200,000 people come to New Orleans for the Bayou Classic weekend, and 50,000 - 60,000 make their way to the Bayou Classic game. The Bayou Classic commemorates historically black colleges and universities, academic achievement, tradition, sportsmanship, marching bands, and friendly competition. The “Classic” is an exhibition of the high standards of academic achievement deeply embedded in the traditions of the two institutions - Grambling State University and Southern University.

Other game highlights:

National anthem: The Crescent City All-Stars Band

The Crescent City All-Stars Band is composed of 175 student musicians from 13 New Orleans area high schools. Each band director selects the best of the best musicians to participate. Band directors from all over the city are involved in the organization and rehearsals.

The musical director is Trey Vernado from Young Audiences Charter and the volunteer leader is Sgt. Richard Blackman who heads the NOPD Events team. He was a trombone player in the Grambling Marching Tigers Band.

This national anthem performance is fueling the kickstart of this all-star band after a period of forced dormancy following the pandemic outbreak..

The 48th Annual Bayou Classic Halftime Show

Presented by The Coca-Cola Company

The electrifying halftime show will feature the Grambling State University’s World Famed Marching Band and Southern University’s Human Jukebox and Dancing Dolls.

Grambling State University is the home team at the 48th Annual Bayou Classic and its fans will sit on the west side of the Caesars Superdome. Southern University, as the visiting team, will sit on the east side of the Superdome. For Battle of the Bands, Southern will be on the South side of the

Caesars Superdome (in front of section 141) and Grambling will be in the North side (in front of section 143 at the Gate A side of the Superdome)

About The Bayou Classic

The Bayou Classic ( www.mybayouclassic.com ) features one of America's greatest college sports rivalries, bringing the fans and alumni of Southern University and Grambling State University to New Orleans for a celebration of football, family and the traditions and pageantry surrounding Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Proceeds from the annual series of Bayou Classic events provide support to the campuses’ athletic programs and fund scholarships through the SU System Foundation and the GSU Foundation. 

The 48th Annual Bayou Classic will be played on Saturday, November 27, 2021.

The 48th Annual Bayou Classic is supported by the following organizations – Procter & Gamble and its brands, including Crest®, Febreze®, Gain Hand Dish Soap, Gain In-Wash Scent Boosters, Microban 24®, Old Spice®, Head & Shoulders Royal Oils and Pantene®; The Louisiana Office of Tourism, Louisiana Office of Culture Recreation & Tourism and Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser; The Coca-Cola Company; General Motors; The AEA Educational Foundation; Microsoft; Verizon; CWC; Hyatt Regency New Orleans; The City of New Orleans, Office of Cultural Economy and the New Orleans Tourism and Cultural Fund; New Orleans & Company; Xfinity; Cracker Barrel; Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey; AARP Louisiana; Cricket Wireless; AARP; AT&T; Visit Baton Rouge; Downtown Development District; Academy Sports & Outdoors; Parish of Caddo - Shreveport, Louisiana; US Marine Corps; iJustOrder; United States Coast Guard; NOMTN - New Orleans Multicultural Tourism Network; Wendy’s; Bumble Bee Billboards; Special Olympics Louisiana; National Medical Association – Region V; WBOK 1230 AM; Event Producers; Cumulus Media – New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette & Shreveport.

Information on the Bayou Classic supplied by mybayouclassic.com.

MORE HBCU SPORTS COVERAGE

• Top 5 HBCU Power Rankings - Postseason Edition
• Southern and Hampton Marching Bands to be Featured in Thanksgiving Day Eve
• Jerry Rice on Battles with Deion Sanders: "It Was Goin' Down"
• Florida A&M Earns At-Large Bid to FCS Playoffs
• Jackson State Conquers Alcorn State
• Watch: Deion Sanders Firing Up His Team in Pregame Warmups