The Marching Golden Flashes annually highlight Kent State’s homecoming weekend with their lively performances in the Homecoming parade and football halftime show.

Over the past two weeks, they prepared this year’s performance, which took place Saturday.

“Our halftime show this Saturday will be celebrating two of the current queens of pop music — Beyonce and Taylor Swift,” said Director of Athletic Bands Darin Olson. 

As a special element to their homecoming show, they had members of the Kent State Alumni Band join them for the halftime finale.

The Flashes traveled to University Park to perform during the Penn State vs. Kent State football game halftime show Sept. 21. 

This created a demanding practice schedule as the Flashes prepped for the Penn State halftime show and began working on their homecoming routine. 

“The circumstances around our preparation have been a little unique,” Olson said. “We had the amazing opportunity to travel to Penn State to perform at the football game, but this also meant we had to balance our time learning new material for the upcoming homecoming performance, while continuing to prepare for the performance in Pennsylvania.”

Additionally, the marching band prepared for the annual Homecoming parade. 

“We’ll be performing the Fight Song and Victory March during the parade, and this is music that we have been working on since Band Camp in August,” Olson said. “All other techniques and music related to the parade, we’ve been working through this week.”

After the conclusion of the Penn State game, the Flashes were able to focus all of their energy on the Homecoming performances, he said.

The Flashes’ Homecoming parade performance started Saturday at 10:30 a.m. on Main Street. Their halftime performance took place during the 3:30 p.m. football game on the same day at Dix Stadium. 

“I’m excited to see the students perform and watch the impact they have on the atmosphere at Dix Stadium,” Olson said. “They put so much energy and effort into everything we do, and it’s always rewarding to have them share that with the Kent State community.”

Kailyn Tibolla is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].