Drum Corps International - DCI Championships

DCI Championships

See also: Drum Corps International World Class Champions and List of Drum Corps International World Championship Finalists

The DCI Championships, first contested in 1972, are the culmination of the drum corps season. Originally held during the third weekend in August, this has moved to the week of the second weekend in August, as the school year has lengthened and the Championship activities have increased.

Over the years, the DCI Championships were held in college or professional sports stadiums in eighteen U.S and Canadian cities, spread from Montreal in the north to Orlando in the south, and from Philadelphia in the east to Pasadena in the west. Since 2009, however, the Championships have been based in Indiana, with the Open Class Championships being held at Ames Field in Michigan City and the World Class Championships at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. DCI plans to remain at the current venues until at least 2018, with the exception of the 2014 season.

Beginning in 1975, the DCI Championship Finals were televised on PBS. From 2006 to 2007, they were carried on ESPN 2. Although the Finals have not been broadcast live in several years, since 2004, the quarterfinals have been screened live at a large number of movie theaters across the country.

During championships week, in addittion to the Open Class and World Class Championships, Individual & Ensemble (I&E) competitions are also held, typically at an indoor facility near the championship stadium. Members of all corps are able to compete, and participating members often use much of their limited free time to prepare their I&E routines. There are a great number of categories or captions for each individual brass and percussion instruments, for auxiliary (aka "color guard") equipment, and for brass, percussion, auxiliary, and mixed ensembles. In the 2005 season, I&E included woodwind instruments for the first time, in recognition that many marching members play instruments other than brass and percussion.