The Band of the Fighting Irish is the marching band of the University of Notre Dame. The over 380 members of the band represent nearly every field of study, and include students from across the United States as well as from overseas.

The band performs at all home football games and pep rallies. A typical home game schedule commences on Friday afternoon when the band marches out from the Main Building to their rehearsal field for a final run-through of their field show, to the delight of onlookers. Following practice, the band marches from the Band Building to the Edmund P. Joyce Center to perform for the pep rally, energizing students and fans alike. At midnight, students and fans gather in front of the main building for the energizing "Drummer's Circle" performed by the drum line to prepare the student body for the following day's events.

Saturday morning commences with an early morning march about campus as a traditional way to "wake-up" students across campus in preparation for game day festivities. Once arriving at the Loftus Indoor Sports Facility, the band practices their field show once more and thereafter convenes for lunch, often performing various songs for special banquets held in the South Dining Hall at this time.

The day continues with a "Concert on the Steps" at Bond Hall, the Architecture Building, as the band performs traditional tunes as well as the half-time field show music in stand-still performance, galvanizing the large crowds surrounding the building. Directly following this performance is the traditional "Trumpets in the Dome" performance in the Notre Dame Administration Building.

Next, approximately half-an-hour before kick-off, the band steps off from in front of the Main Building for their traditional march to the stadium, led by the Cheerleaders and Irish Guard, the band parades down the streets, lined by fans clapping and cheering the Irish onwards to victory.

After performing for pre-game festivities, their half-time show, and the post-game show, the band makes a triumphant march back to the band building after the game, and awaits preparations for the upcoming game day and the next opportunity to support their Fighting Irish football team.

The University of Notre Dame Band is the second (the first is Norwich University) oldest college band (in continuous existence) in the United States and was honored as such by being declared a "Landmark of American Music" by the National Music Council, the Indiana Music Educators Association and Exxon Corporation during the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial.

The Band of the Fighting Irish has a long tradition of providing music and pageantry for the Notre Dame football games. It was on hand for the first game against the University of Michigan in 1887 and has not missed a single home game since. The Notre Dame Band was celebrating its forty-first anniversary when that historic first game was played.

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Band_of_the_Fighting_Irish" rel="noreferrer nofollow">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Band_of_the_Fighting_Irish</a>