Here's a short but historic account from my journal describing my first appearance in a parade in which I was not merely droning.

First Sunday [this month] brought this season’s only band gig that I actually committed to [an event in a town down the road]. Rain still fell [at home], but we were under the impression it was letting up to the west. Well, coming in waves it may have been, but let up it wouldn’t. Eventually the full band occupied a designated Lutheran church basement, where uncertainty gave us plenty of preparation time. Finally we found ourselves lining up for the delayed parade at the intersection outside the church, practically next to a lake (which I probably hadn’t known about) with rain blowing across it. Turned out we were the second unit, & I was placed in the front rank next to the Major--for my first experience actually playing tunes in a pipe band. The route through town proved short enough, which may have been just as well; my performance disappointed me. Never heard complaints afterward, though.

Wearing wool can come in handy.