This Fourth of July will be a busy one for the Austin High School Marching Band. Not only will they appear in the Austin parade, but the Blooming Prairie one as well.

Band director Bradley Mariska is about to enter his third year as a teacher at AHS and his involvement with the community hasn’t slowed down.

“The community really responds well to [seeing the band perform],” Mariska said.

After not appearing in the Austin parade for several years, the AHS Marching Band made a comeback with their performance last year. This year, however, they are taking it a step further.

“The parade really isn’t a parade without a marching band,” said Bradley Mariska, director of the AHS bands.

Instead of limiting themselves to just one parade, they plan to make their way over to Blooming Prairie for their parade as well.

“It’s a good opportunity for students to display their talents for a different audience,” Mariska said.

Mariska thinks the band will add a festive flair to the events. Mariska said the setlist for the parades will be the “fun old-school classic rock” hit “Hang on Sloopy,” along with “America the Beautiful,” which was played in the Memorial Day parade.

The money gained from participating in the parades will go toward new instruments for the band department.

An additional change from last year is an added performance time for the mariachi and jazz bands on the main stage at Bandshell Community Park. Instead of sharing an hour time slot like past years, the groups will have two separate performance times. The Mariachi Band will perform at 2 p.m., and the jazz band will play at 5 p.m.

Mariska and other band students won’t just have a busy Fourth Of July. Throughout the summer, about 60 students will stay active with individual lessons where they will improve their skills in preparation for the coming school year.

“That will keep me busy,” Mariska said.