A New Orleans-style second-line brass band will play classic jazz numbers and greatest hits from Devo and others as it marches in Akron’s Bicentennial Downtown Parade on July 5.

Akron’s Second Line Procession is a brass band, dance and arts ensemble whose New Orleans roots are an integral part of the African-American community.

The band will take part in the parade on Saturday, July 5, starting at 10 a.m.

Akronite Rick Rogers, founder and executive director emeritus of Akron’s public arts organization Curated Storefront, decided to bring the band to the annual parade in honor of his mother.

“My mother loved Akron and she loved a good party,” Rogers said in a press release. “She wanted a second line procession as part of her celebration of life. I thought it was fitting to create this group that celebrates passed-on loved ones as part of Akron’s bicentennial birthday.”

Susie Rogers, a longtime civic leader and arts patron, died in 2024.

Open Tone Music, NCCAkron partner with Curated Storefront on second line band 

Christy Bolingbroke, executive/artistic director of NCCAkron, choreographed dancers for the band led by Chris Anderson, executive director and founder of Open Tone Music.

“One of the best ways I know how to feel and be a part of a community is to lean into the music and move together. Although not from New Orleans — I’m not even originally from Akron — I welcome this invitation as an adopted Akronite,” Bolingbroke said, “to celebrate our collective ancestors, play, and dance, to mark this moment for our community and turn the page for the next 200 years.”

The procession will also feature characters representing sculptures from Curated Storefront’s downtown Akron museum, Clayton Bailey’s World of Wonders.

Akron’s Second Line Procession will play everything from New Orleans jazz classics to greatest hits from Akron’s own Devo, The Pretenders and The Black Keys.

Everyone over 18 is invited to join in the procession with advanced registration. If you sign up before June 16, you’ll get a free T-shirt and bandana designed by Akron artist Micah Kraus.

You can learn the choreography in advance online or through an upcoming, in-person rehearsal. Participants must sign liability waivers and releases. 

To register, visit here.

Kristine Gill is a freelance writer based in Willoughby with experience covering real estate, crime, higher education and health. She majored in newspaper journalism and creative writing at Kent State and runs a fiction workshop for local writers. She spent a decade living in Florida, working first as a reporter for the Naples Daily News. She later worked as a media relations specialist for the Collier County Sheriff's Office.