Northwestern is set to play its first college football game at its brand-new $850 million stadium against Penn State on Friday. Its marching band will not perform inside the new Ryan Field before kickoff.
This could be the new normal in Evanston!
The band may never perform during pregame ever again. This does not include the actual college football game!!
Northwestern will open the new Ryan Field against Penn State on Friday.
Northwestern University began its transition into a new football stadium in early 2024. The Wildcats played each of the last two seasons at a temporary venue on Lake Michigan, as well as the first two home games in 2026.
They will return home to Evanston, Illinois on Friday night for the official debut of the new Ryan Field against Penn State. It cost $850 million to build.
With a capacity of 35,000, the furthest seat from the field is only 135 feet away from the sideline. The student section mirrors that of European soccer stadiums, where the fans are not allowed to sit down in a traditional seat and/or on a traditional bleacher. The home locker room might be one of the nicest in the country — which cannot be said for the untouched visitor’s locker room.
It is going to be a rocking environment on Friday. Northwestern is a 2.5-point underdog in front of a sold-out home crowd. The 122nd Fighter Wing of the Indiana Air National Guard will conduct an F-16 flyover while Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center alumnus Ian Rucker perform the national anthem. There won’t be an empty seat in the stadium.
However, the marching band won’t be there. The Ryan Field Foundation confirmed the Daily Northwestern’s report that the band will not perform on the field pregame for Northwestern’s opening of the new Ryan Field.
Marching band alumni are not happy.
Part of the new Ryan Field construction includes a large plaza right outside of the entrance gates. The 200,000-square-foot culinary district and stadium food experience will host ‘The Great Chicago Food Festival‘ prior to every game and concert. It brings together famous Chicago chefs and iconic local restaurant groups to operate permanent, custom-designed pavilions. That includes chefs Rick Bayless and Stephanie Izard, and the teams from Gibsons and Dimmi Dimmi.
The Festival opens two hours before kickoff or showtime and runs through the event, at every Northwestern home game and every concert at New Ryan Field. Admission is included with every ticket; the only thing a fan pays for is the food and drink. The invitation is simple: arrive early. The Festival begins when you get here; kickoff is the encore, and for concerts, it is the opening act.
— Ryan Field Foundation
The band will be at the Great Chicago Food Festival during pregame, not on the field. The Ryan Field Foundation doesn’t want to waste the band on “an empty bowl.”
“NU Marching Band performance is still a central as a part of the pregame festivities. but with the Great Chicago Food Festival running from 5 pm – 7 pm they are playing to where the fans will be.”
Former members of the band are not happy with the lack of on-field performance. NU Marching And Band Alums President Balek Kolesa released the following statement to the Daily Northwestern:
To borrow from NU Athletics marketing campaigns from the 2010s, Northwestern is a special place because “AND is in its DNA.” That is true of so many individuals and groups at NU. Including the athletes and the bands.
The football team AND marching band have been in the same place consistently throughout the university’s history: Saturdays at Dyche Stadium and Ryan Field. This is true when the ‘Cats won consecutive bowl games for the first time in the last decade, AND when the Purple recorded 34 straight losses in 1979-82, with the Marching Band never abandoning their post.
Now, it appears that pairing is at risk. While Northwestern becomes the center of the college football universe Friday night, it will be the only school in the Big Ten—or the Power 4 for that matter—not putting a marching band on the field for pregame this weekend. Presented an opportunity to put the football team AND its most loyal supporter, NUMB, side by side in the new iteration of Ryan field, I am saddened by the decision of the New Ryan Field production team and Northwestern athletics to turn its back on NUMB when asked whether to prioritize money-making “premium” food stands hand libation sales OR tradition and its most dedicated champions.
The NUMBAlums and I are saddened by the decisions made to sideline the student musicians of the marching band and the band’s decades old tradition on the eve of the new stadium’s opening. We are hopeful that the noticeable absence of the pregame performance will cause the administration reconsider and allow NUMB to return to the field ahead of the first homecoming game at new Ryan Field next week.
— Blake Kolesa
The band will still perform in the stands during the game and at halftime. It will not perform on the field during pregame. That may or may not change in the future. No commitments have been made for upcoming games.