Morgan State University’s Magnificent Marching Machine is headed to California.

The Pasadena Tournament of Roses, a series of events surrounding New Year’s Eve, including college football’s Rose Bowl game, invited the university’s marching band to perform at the storied Rose Parade in 2026, the university announced during its homecoming festivities this weekend.

A man in orange and navy hold a white flag on a football field alongside a marching band.
The Rose Parade, considered the “granddaddy of them all,” is one of the most prestigious events a marching band can perform at. (Courtesy of Morgan State University)

Organizers expect the 137th Rose Parade to draw roughly 50 million viewers from 170 countries, more than typically tune in to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which Morgan’s band performed in in 2019.

Twenty marching bands from around the world typically get invited to the parade each year, including two U.S. university bands. California State University Fresno and Jackson State University will send their marching bands to perform this January alongside bands from Mexico, Denmark, Panama and Japan.

The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.

“There’s no bigger event in the marching band world than the Rose Parade,” Jorim E. Reid Sr., Morgan’s director of bands, said in a statement. “When you perform on New Year’s Day, the eyes of the world are watching.” He called it “The Granddaddy of Them All” in the statement.

With this invite, Morgan State locks in the second gem of the parade Triple Crown, which also includes the Macy’s Day parade and the U.S. Presidential Inauguration Parade. With the election approaching — January will bring the inauguration of a new president — the university hopes its third Triple Crown event invite could be imminent.

David K. Wilson, Morgan president, called the invite to the Rose Parade a “major achievement” and a “historic opportunity.”

“This is an extraordinary moment of pride for Morgan, and I do not doubt that the world will be as captivated by the Magnificent Marching Machine as we are every time they take the field,” he said in a statement.

About 150 students make up the marching band, which has played at NFL games, at the World Series and in the Chris Rock movie “Head of State.” On June 6, the band became the first from a historically Black college or university to perform in France for the memorial and parade commemorating the anniversary of D-Day.

The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.

Three members of a marching band dressed in white, orange and blue uniforms pose with Gov. Wes Moore standing on a track.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore poses with members of Morgan State University’s marching band during homecoming weekend. (Courtesy of Morgan State University)

The announcement came during halftime at Morgan State’s homecoming football game on Saturday against Lincoln University Pennsylvania. A video message from Tournament of Roses Association President Mark Leavens played between the Magnificent Marching Machine’s performances of Usher songs.

Around 11:40 pm that night, a 21-year-old man was shot just outside campus near the intersection of Hillen Road and Cold Spring Lane, according to Baltimore Police. He was transported to a hospital.

University officials said the shooting was not related to homecoming activities and that overall the festivities were “incident-free” because of the security plan put in place by the university police department. Last year, five people were shot on Morgan State’s campus on homecoming weekend, prompting the university to implement tighter security measures this year.

Activities finished by 7 p.m. this year “with no significant incidents on campus, no arrests, and no Morgan State students requiring medical attention or hospital services,” university officials said in a statement.

" While the University is aware of reported off-campus incidents in the surrounding community, we confirm that none were directly connected to Morgan State or its students,” the statement said. “We will continue to support the Baltimore Police Department in addressing any matters beyond our campus borders.”