Dublin trip provides experience, education for VHHS band

This March, the Vestavia Hills High School Rebel Marching Band will have a very special St. Patrick’s Day. On March 13, the band will fly over to Dublin, Ireland to participate in two Irish events — the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin and a music festival in Limerick. 

“To be completely honest, these are like once in a lifetime types of activities for our students,” said Jerell Horton, band director at VHHS. “We’ve taken international trips before, but it’s been almost 10 years since we’ve taken international trips.”

To perform in the parade, Horton and Heather Palmer, associate director of bands, went through a long application process. They submitted credentials, a video of the VHHS band performing and demographics of the area, Horton said, and got approval from the school board. The official announcement was made last March, he added, allowing the families almost a full year to save up and to pay. 

To prepare, the band has had after school rehearsal once a week, Horton said, and is working to get ready from a physical standpoint. 

In addition to their performances, the band will get to see the sights of Ireland as well. They will visit the Blarney Stone, Galway and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Palmer said. 

“They’re basically going to take us on bus tours to all the major sites over there,” Palmer said.

Nearly 160 students and 100 parents will go on the trip. One of the most exciting parts, Palmer and Horton said, is exposing students to a new culture and new opportunities.

“For me, these types of trips give them an opportunity to just witness a different lifestyle,” Horton said. “Going to a foreign country, even though they speak English there, it’s a completely different culture.”

“You don’t get to march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Ireland everyday,” Palmer said. “They’re doing something together that only being in band would allow them.”