After a year off and in the wake of the cancelation of the 2020 DCI Tour, Drum Corps International is set to return to Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium August 12-14. Nearly two dozen corps will have the unique opportunity to showcase their performances perhaps unlike at any other time in DCI history.
“When it started to become clear that we would be able to produce this summer’s Celebration Events, we knew we’d have the opportunity to do some special things that might be outside the norm of our typical competitive events,” DCI CEO Dan Acheson said.
Since the start of winter, Acheson has been working with members of Drum Corps International’s Artistry and Competition Steering Committee, comprised of instructors and show designers of World and Open Class corps along with judge-advisors, to guide the programming of each night of performances. The committee has pulled together a general consensus of what corps will be able to present in the context of a shortened season and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, while still offering their members and audiences a world-class performance experience.
One of the biggest highlights of the Celebration Events will be that all participating groups will have the opportunity to perform on all three days, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Each day will be loosely programmed around the following themes:
REMEMBER | THURSDAY, AUGUST 12
A celebration of the rich history of Drum Corps International with a focus on the many accomplishments DCI corps have achieved over the past five decades.
REJOICE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 13
A celebration of the performing corps members with special recognition of graduating age-outs after each group’s performance.
RENEW | SATURDAY, AUGUST 14
A celebration of what’s to come as we start to close the book on Drum Corps International’s first half century while anticipating DCI’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2022.
In addition to each corps taking the field for up to 17 minutes at a time, a variety of additional performances and creative content will be shared with in-stadium and livestream audiences from different “stages” within the venue. Some performances might spotlight individuals or small ensembles, DrumLine Battle, or entire drum corps showcasing additional material beyond their standard performance repertoires.
Event producers will also make full use of in-stadium video boards and streaming video online to augment the live performances, featuring material from drum corps and other ensembles which are unable to attend this summer’s live events in Indianapolis and other special content that will help bring each day’s theme to life.
View a list of corps scheduled to appear this summer in Indianapolis
“It’s going to be really exciting to see what corps bring to the field this summer as a non-judged showcase of the best these groups have to offer,” said Acheson. “We’ll definitely see many traditional marching shows, but may also see a combination of music on the move and standstill performances. A corps might choose to do something different each night or deliver variations on a theme. Corps design teams are hard at work right now and we should have a clearer picture about what they’re going to showcase in Indianapolis and throughout this summer’s Celebration Tour in the coming weeks.”
Leading up to Indianapolis will be more than 25 additional events making up the 2021 DCI Celebration Tour. Tickets to a number of these shows will go on sale June 14. Individual-night tickets for this August’s Celebration Events in Indianapolis are expected to go on sale through Ticketmaster late in June.
Sign up for email alerts for the latest 2021 ticket information and news
Related News
On the (Re)Starting Line…
Schedule of 2021 events leading into Indianapolis
Here’s how Marching Music’s Major League™ will return to marching music’s greatest stage this summer