Dutch bicycle-riding marching band makes U.S. premiere at Holland’s Tulip Time

A Dutch bicycling marching band made its U.S. premiere during Holland’s 94th annual Tulip Time Festival with a unique performance.
Bicycle Showband Crescendo performs at Hope College’s Ray and Sue Smith Stadium during the debut performance at the Tulip Time Festival, May 12.

Bicycle Showband Crescendo, a band from the village of Opende in the Netherlands,
entertained thousands of spectators with six 30-minute performances, including at the Volksparade, on the weekend of May 12-14.

Crescendo is no ordinary marching band. Every instrumentalist, from piccolos to tubas, sported wooden shoes and dressed in traditional Volendam (Dutch) attire. The 40-member band played a variety of showband pieces, including Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” the “Mission Impossible” theme song and Paul Simon’s “America,” with complex and flowing choreography while performing on bicycles on the field of Hope College’s Ray and Sue Smith Stadium.
Spectators along Van Raalte Avenue look on as Bicycle Showband Crescendo performs in the Tulip Time Festival’s Volksparade, May 13. The showband was the last band to perform in this parade.


Members of Bicycle Showband Crescendo hit their wooden shoes together while performing at Hope College’s Ray and Sue Smith Stadium during their debut performance at the Tulip Time Festival, May 12.

The conductor of Bicycle Showband Crescendo sings along with the 1,600+ in attendance at Hope College’s Ray and Sue Smith Stadium while the band performs Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” song during their debut performance at the Tulip Time Festival.
The cycling musicians, the only mounted band of its kind, have played all over Europe and Asia, collecting awards at world showband competitions. The Tulip Time Festival was the band’s first performance in the United States in its 101-year history.

Though final attendance figures won’t be available for weeks, Tulip Time organizers are “pleasantly fatigued” with this year’s festival. Next year’s 95th Tulip Time Festival is scheduled to begin on May 4, 2024.