Performance Schedule
Cal Band performs a pregame and halftime show at every home football game. 90 minutes before each kickoff, be sure to catch us performing with Cal Cheer, Dance, and Spirit groups on the west steps of Sproul Hall for Sproul Rally. From there, you’re welcome to join us for March Up as we head up the hill to California Memorial Stadium! After the game, stick around in Memorial for a celebratory post-game field show.
Fall 2025 Home Game Schedule
September 6 vs. Texas Southern
September 13 vs. Minnesota
October 4th vs. Duke
October 16th or 17th (Date TBD) vs. North Carolina
November 1 vs. Virginia
November 29 vs. SMU
Fall 2025 Away Game Schedule
November 22 vs. Stanford @ Stanford, CA
How To Book the Straw Hat Band
In order to book a performance by the University of California Straw Hat Band, please review the information below first…
Availability
As the Straw Hat Band is entirely composed of students, keep in mind that it may be difficult for the band to perform at off campus events Monday-Thursday, especially during Winter and Spring breaks. (See the Academic Calendar for these dates.) Furthermore, the Straw Hat Band is committed to performing at all home football games during the fall, and at all Men’s and Women’s home basketball games in the spring. (See calbears.com for sports schedules.) Performances requested during any of these times will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Capabilities and Repertoire
The Straw Hat Band is capable of performing in a vast range of venues, inside or outside, as small as a San Francisco cable car or as large as a football stadium. A general performance consists of the traditional “marching in” to the event to “Fight for California”, followed by a set of Cal fight songs and a selection from our repertoire of popular music from the past half century. The shortest amount of time the Straw Hat Band can play is 5 minutes. This type of performance is called a 3 & Out and consists of marching in to “Fight for California”, “Big C”, and marching out to “Sons of California”.
Our 5 & Out style of performance is similar to a 3 & Out, with your choice of two additional song performances from our packet (see the description of our song packet below).
Our music is composed or arranged for a minimum of 18 performers. Since performers in the Straw Hat Band volunteer to perform, a group larger than 18 is usually a possibility, but its size is dependent on the availability of individual performers. The average size of the Straw Hat Band at any given performance is about 30 members.
Other than our collection of Cal Fight Songs, the repertoire of the Straw Hat Band changes every year. We have a packet of music that consists of a diverse selection of approximately 75 pop songs from the past several decades. To view our current packet for the 2022-2023 school year, click this link. In addition to this, we have an extensive library of almost 2,000 songs. Special requests for songs from our library or special arrangements for your event will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Transportation and Costs
[Cal Band SHB Pricing Structure has been updated effective July 1, 2022]
Due to the high volume of requests we receive and the costs we incur to run our program, we charge a performance fee + the cost of transportation for all performances. Exceptions may be made in rare circumstances. Our fee structure is as follows:
- Private Events: $1500 minimum + transportation costs
- Corporate Events: $5000 minimum + transportation costs
- Non-Profits/Charity Events: TBD + transportation costs
Your performance fees will go directly to the Cal Band and support our efforts in replacing old, worn instruments and expanding our scholarship services for our hard-working student-musicians. We also gladly accept donations in addition to the performance fee.
SHB requests during normal school hours are less likely to be approved, as our members are all students who volunteer their time for these performances. Please note that we do not accept requests for events during RRR Week or Finals Week for this same reason. (Spring 2025: May 5-16; Fall 2025: December 8-19)
To ensure your request is processed in time, please submit requests at least 2-4 weeks in advance, preferably sooner. Allow 2 weeks for a response while we determine the feasibility of the performance. Our Student Director will respond with the Band’s availability.
If your event takes place off campus, please keep in mind that our transportation capabilities are limited. Depending on the date and nature of your event, we may be able to take our own cars, but in the case that this is not possible, we do ask that the party requesting the Straw Hat Band cover the cost of a bus to and from the event.
If you would like to donate to the Band, we will gladly accept donations at our performances (make checks payable to UC Berkeley Foundation and write “Cal Band” on the memo line), online, or anytime by contacting our Public Relations Director – prd@calband.org
After considering the above information, please fill out our Performance Request Form to begin the booking process. After submitting this form, our Student Director will contact you to confirm our availability. Thank you and Go Bears!