Costa Rican Marching Band @ Tournament of Roses Parade.

Making dreams come true for 220 Costa Rican teenagers, local Hispanic leaders have embarked on a campaign to help raise over $500,000 to support the first ever marching band from Central America to participate in the 116th Tournament of Roses Parade. The youth band, also known as Nuestros Angeles de las Americas, was invited this year by the Tournament of Roses Parade Committee to participate in the annual Pasadena gala on January 1, 2005.

Nuestros Angeles de las Americas is comprised of the top 220 musicians from Conservatorio de las Artes in Cartago, Costa Rica. Many of these teenagers live in modest conditions and have never traveled outside of their country. This will be the band’s first time performing in the United States. The marching band will represent Latin America during the 116th Tournament of Roses Parade. All the Los Angeles based consulates representing the countries that make up Latin America will send a representative to follow the band with their respective flags.

Univision 34/KMEX TV provided extensive news coverage of the band, profiling heart-warming stories of each one of the members. For over two months, these stories have aired on Univision’s Emmy award winning newscasts at 5:00 a.m., 6:00 a.m., 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.

The response to date by the Southland’s Hispanic community has been impressive. Thousands of area residents are contributing as little as $5 to $10, or whatever they can afford, to see these young people march down Colorado Boulevard on New Year’s Day. The majority of the donors are working class individuals or families who want to participate in making dreams come true for these young Costa Ricans. Without the support from the community these teenagers would not have been able to make the long trip to Pasadena to participate in the annual parade on New Year’s Day.

“The response has been overwhelming,” said Belisario Solano, representative of the Costa Rican government. “The Hispanic community in Los Angeles has adopted these youth with open arms as they are sending in whatever they can afford to help these teenagers. It’s a real sense of pride for many Hispanics.”