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The New Year's Day Parade is parade of 10,000 performers through the streets of the West End of London which takes place annually on 1 January. The first year the parade took place was 1987 as the Lord Mayor of Westminster's Big Parade. The parade was renamed in 1994 and for 2000 only it was renamed the Millennium Parade. According to organisers, the London parade is the biggest New Years Day street event of its kind. The parade is used to raise funds for charities in London and representatives from each London borough are encouraged to take part as a 'borough entry' which are judged as part of the event. The parade is also used to honour people from each borough who have been heroic in some way during the previous year. Every year BBC London holds a competition to find two talented young musicians to travel to the United States and play with an American High School Marching Band, both in America and then in the London Parade. The 2 mile (3.2 km) parade route begins at Parliament Square in Westminster and continues along Parliament Street and Whitehall to Trafalgar Square. It then continues along Cockspur Street and Regent Street. The final section is along Piccadilly and the parade ends at the Green Park. The parade attracts around half a million spectators and there is ticket-only seating at the start and end of the route.
2007 parade The 140-member marching band from Fort Myers High School in Florida, USA, were initially banned from taking part in the 2007 parade because US education officials feared they may be caught in a terrorist attack. The decision was later overruled and they will now be leading the parade of 2007.* The school has now accepted the offer to host the two winners of this years BBC London competition. | ||||||||
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