Being in the marching band gives someone a lot of opportunities that one would not usually get. They get to perform during UW-Whitewater’s halftime show at football games, perform in parades and compete in competitions to see which school has the best marching band. But one opportunity stands out over the rest, and that is being able to perform at a Green Bay Packers’ halftime show. That is what the UW-Whitewater’s Warhawk Marching Band got to do on Nov. 19 when the Packers faced the Los Angeles Chargers at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Lambeau Field, recognized as one of the oldest and most famous NFL stadiums in America, hosted the LA Chargers in a Sunday afternoon football matchup. There were over 75,000 fans in attendance, with millions more watching live from home or at a bar. This was one of the largest performances that the 162-member marching band did.

“Walking out on that with all those people watching put me in the headspace of ‘we are Wisconsin’s finest, let’s show Green Bay that,’” said junior trumpet player Jacob Pfannerstill. “The build up to that performance, the hours and hours of drill we rehearsed and music we played was all worth it in the minute I stepped on the turf.”

During halftime, the marching band performed “Alive” from Michael Gracey’s “The Greatest Showman” and “The Club” from Lin Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award winning musical “In the Heights.” After the game during postgame, they also performed “The Warhawk Strut” and “Sweet Caroline.”

The last time the Warhawk Marching Band got to perform at Lambeau Field was Sep. 10, 2017, when the Packers hosted the Seattle Seahawks in a Week 2 matchup in the 2017-2018 NFL season.

“The feeling was so surreal,” said senior mellophone player Sam Behling. “Dr. Hayes had talked before about representing UW-Whitewater with our performance and how we conducted ourselves, and walking into the field was when I really felt that set in. It feels so cool to think about the fact that so many people watched us and even more saw us on TV and saw what we were about.”

Being able to perform at Lambeau Field during a halftime show is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, which these 162 college students got to experience. Performing in front of over 75,000 fans in attendance and millions more live on air was an experience they will never forget.