The University of Colorado Boulder’s marching band performed in front of the Boulder Courthouse on Pearl Street Mall for the first football pep rally of the season. Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. (Io Hartman/CU Independent)
The pedestrian strip of the Pearl Street Mall filled with students, families, and football fans on Thursday, Sept. 1. The CU Marching Band’s music and cheering crowds resounded through the streets of the mall. The University of Colorado Boulder’s first football game of the season will be held at Folsom Field on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022.
The Pearl Street Stampede rallies have been kicking off CU’s football seasons for over a decade and are a collaboration between the University of Colorado, local businesses and the City of Boulder.
Football players rode through Pearl Street Mall on a tan and gold truck on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. Due to the large size of the team, the majority walked behind the truck, while greeting fans and talking with each other. (Io Hartman CU Independent)
The University of Colorado Boulder’s marching band performed in front of the Boulder Courthouse on Pearl Street Mall for the first football pep rally of the season. Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. (Io Hartman/CU Independent)
Spirits were high among the crowd, football players, marching band and cheerleaders who attended. The rally began at 7 p.m. in front of the Boulder County Courthouse. The marching band played its first few songs and cheerleaders performed their first dances, building momentum for the rest of the night.
Cheerleaders performed for the crowds on Pearl Street on Thursday, Sept. 1, celebrating the first football game of the season, which will take place Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. (Io Hartman/CU Independent)
Soon after the marching band performance began, the announcers welcomed the university’s football team, the Colorado Buffs, onto Stephen Tebo’s vintage 1948 fire truck that later drove the parade down the mall. Some players waved to the crowds, thanking them for coming, while others wore sunglasses and headphones and withheld from interacting.
A cheerleader smiles at the crowd on Pearl Street on Thursday, Sept. 1, during the pep rally the first football game of the season, which will take place Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. (Io Hartman/CU Independent)
A student takes a video of CU’s marching band during the pep rally on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. (Io Hartman/CU Independent)
Football fans, students, families, and others cheered on CU’s football team on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. (Io Hartman/CU Independent)
The band and cheerleaders continued their performances until the truck began making its way down Pearl Street. Every few blocks, the truck stopped and the band started back up again. Those making up the crowd remained interested throughout the walk down Pearl Street, while customers in bars and restaurants joined and started cheering and filming the event.
After completing the walk down the mall, the football team left and the band and cheerleaders stayed. The celebration concluded in front of Bartaco, Centro Mexican Kitchen, and Pasta Jay’s.
Contact CU Independent Photo Editor Io Hartman at io.hartman@colorado.edu
