By Neneh Burnside
A recent change in the Mighty Sound of Maryland game-day route has left some members frustrated, as the band moves from the streets to the sidewalks.
The new route follows a traffic study commissioned to examine game-day traffic. The change requires the band to adjust its route and formation as part of broader efforts by the University of Maryland to reduce pregame traffic stoppages, while allowing the band to continue its pregame performances for fans, according to an Aug. 11 email from band director Dr. Andrea Brown.
The band began using the revised route when UMD opened its 2026 football season against Hampton University on Sept. 5.
Kieran Wilson, a junior psychology and women, gender and sexuality studies major, who plays trombone in the band, said the email told members that the route would be different, but members did not learn the exact changes until the first week of the semester.
Last season, members left the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and marched on the road between the Clarice and SECU Stadium while fans were on the sidewalks, before continuing toward Jones-Hill House and the stadium, Wilson said.
This season, members leave the Clarice and travel along the sidewalks. Members then cross the road toward the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center at Legacy Plaza, where they perform several songs. After going down the Alumni Center stairs, the band reforms its formation before continuing toward Terpsville Fan Fest, Wilson said.
“It was definitely like a relatively big change,” Wilson said.
The tighter space required the band to change its formation. Because members are now on the sidewalk instead of the road, members have less space to spread out. The band uses a different formation during the first part of the route, then returns to its original formation after the Alumni Center, according to Wilson.
“Given we are now on the sidewalk and not on the road, we’re a lot closer together in our truck formation,” Wilson said.
Maryland Athletics and the University of Maryland Police Department wanted the band to spend less time blocking Alumni Drive, which led to the decision to move the band onto the sidewalks, according to Brown.
“On the MSOM [Mighty Sound of Music] side of things, we wanted to make sure it was still a performance, and it would be fun for the audience,” Brown said
Hadyn Hopper, a junior music education major and tuba section leader, said she was initially concerned about how narrow the sidewalks would affect members carrying larger instruments.
“The bigger instruments have an alternate block,” Hopper said. “Drumline also narrows out a lot because [the sections] just can’t be six people wide.”
The narrow spacing caused instruments to bump into each other and make the parade feel different for the returning members. The new route also changes how the band interacts with the fans, according to Hopper.
“It’s making the truck less of a performance to be watched, and more of just a journey to the station,” Hopper said.
The band wanted to maintain the performance aspect of the route despite the changes, according to Brown.
“We wanted to preserve as much of what the students call the truck, which is the parade part,” Brown said. “That’s what they love to do.”
Stadium Drive and Fieldhouse Drive close four hours before the game and remain closed until two hours after the game. Shuttle-UM’s game-day service begins three hours before kickoff and runs until one hour after the final whistle, according to University of Maryland Transportation Services.
Maryland Athletics also reopened Presidential Drive as a game-day entry and exit route, added two dedicated lanes on Alumni Drive and designated rideshare pickup and drop-off areas at Lot P2 and Mowatt Lane Garage, according to University of Maryland Transportation Services and Maryland Athletics.
The band will continue using the revised route throughout the 2026 season.
Featured Image: SECU Stadium under the lights at the University of Maryland, College Park, before a football game. Photo by Neneh Burnside.