Blue Devils International Corps Goes To Leeuwarden

The Blue Devils International Corps (BDI) will perform at the Cambuur Stadium in Leeuwarden on 27th June. The corps has been brought to Leeuwarden exclusively for the Netherlands by the new event concept Proud, which will be sheltering the Blue Devils for nearly a week in the Frisian capital. Proud works together with Drum Corps Netherlands. The second DCN contest, which usually takes place in Huizen, will move to Leeuwarden so that some of the top European drum corps will be present at the event.

Recently, the Blue Devils announced that they will travel to Europe this summer with an international corps consisting of 97 members. After Leeuwarden they will travel through to the UK, France, Italy and Switzerland for the Basel International Tattoo. The members were, until recently, all part of the Blue Devils or other top corps in the DCI World Class. BDI is an extension of the Blue Devils and will maintain the same excellence and performance qualities all have come to expect.

“Bringing this unique corps to Leeuwarden was an opportunity we could not pass up on,” said artistic leader Piet van Houten of Proud. He came into contact with Blue Devils’ corps director David Gibbs last summer at the DCI World Championships. “From that moment on, Leeuwarden was a very serious option in the tour schedule and we are pleased that we were able to bring them in. We will work together with DCN to make a fantastic event that you should not miss if you are a drum corps or marching band fan.”

BDI will arrive in Leeuwarden around 24th June and will depart on 29th June to go to the UK. The various rehearsals leading up to the Proud Event / DCN contest are public. On Saturday morning there will be drum battles and a BDI showcase in the center of Leeuwarden. The event itself starts at 3 pm at the Cambuur Stadium, where the grandstand has space for 3,000 spectators. Besides the performance of BDI and the participants of the DCN contest, other top show corps from the region may also perform. On the Sunday after the event, clinics and master classes will be organised by BDI around Sports Hall Kalverdijkje.

The event serves as an official contest for Drum Corps Netherlands and is part of the European Music Games. These are music events throughout Europe, where participants are judged according to the same standards by the judges of DCE. The contests attract dozens of corps and thousands of spectators.

The organisations of Proud and DCE will use the coming weeks to put together the whole programme.