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As in previous years, the DCE European Championships are once again made possible thanks to the support of various sponsors. It is our pleasure to introduce you to them: The most drum corps-loving companies can be found at the DCE Market Place in front of the Parkstad Limburg Stadium on Saturday.

MAJESTIC

Majestic Percussion Instruments. “Sound Technology, Innovation & Creativity" is the motto that this company has upheld for decades. Majestic has belonged to the world of show/marching bands and drum corps for over 50 years, and is a worldwide provider of marching and concert percussion instruments. Majestic and its partners in America and Asia also have links with organisations such as DCI, BOA, WMC, GPMB and WMBC.  What's more, various top corps use their set of instruments. Both in European and US style.

"DCE is a top event with a fantastic no-nonsense organisation with which we have been very comfortable for many years," says managing director Peter Vulperhorst. Majestic wishes all participants lots of luck during the DCE Finals!
 

PEARL / ADAMS

Pearl is of course a well-known name for everyone in the drum corps world. The company was founded on 2 April 1946 and has become the largest drum company in the world. The success of Pearl Percussion Products can be traced back to a history of over 68 years of quality and dedication. In 2016, Pearl will celebrate its 70-year anniversary. Pearl is a leading company when it comes to product innovation. The company has a large stand of 36 square metres at the DCE Market Place together with Adams, another well-known name in the music world. 

In a few decades, the Adams group has expanded into a leading, international company with a customer base that includes professional orchestras, professional musicians, traders and many, many associations and individuals.  Other than timpani, the Adams Paukenfabriek also manufactures marimbas, vibraphones, xylophones, concert bass drums, tubular bells en Glockenspiels.  All of these products are marketed by many traders all over the world.  But Adams also has a specialist company in Limburg for the sale of wind and percussion instruments:  Muziekcentrale Adams.

DEMOULIN / MARCHINGSHOP.COM

DeMoulin Bros. & Co. was founded in 1892 and is the world's largest and oldest manufacturer of quality apparel for the music industry. Our products include a full line selection of uniforms for the marching arts as well as formal concert apparel and accessories for performing ensembles. DeMoulin is represented in Europe by Remco Groenewegen of Marchingshop.com.

MarchingShop offers a large range of specific marching products. Whether it involves the right instruments, uniforms, maintenance or accessories, you will find it there. Thanks to the many years of experience in the whole marching world, from harmony to show corps, the company guarantees a good knowledge, excellent service and top quality products.
 

MMC MUSIC & MARCHING CENTER

MMC Music & Marching Center supplies instruments to corps all over Europe. The company has customers in the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, the UK, Austria and Switzerland. "As a Sales Manager at MMC Music & Marching Center, I can proud to be a sponsor of Drum Corps Europe," says Mark Gjaltema. "Many of our customers are active in the marching world and that is why it is important for us to be there for our customers, especially in the DCE Finals. Drum corps brings together people and nationalities, we also see that at MMC."

The company's stand can be found at the Market Place, where all nationalities are welcome to visit. "We may not speak each other's language, but everyone understands the language of music and that is why music/drum corps connects people from all over the world.

GUARD EQUIPMENT

Guard equipment continues to break new ground. For example, they are the European dealer of Dinkles footwear.  Since 2013, they are also THE official dealer of Director's Showcase International in Europe. Guard equipment brings the Dutch Oxbow rifle, the limited lifetime warranty Excalibur 2.0 and the Ever-Jazz washable dancing shoes, digital printed flags and the new Velocity marching shoe.

The company has its own clothing line, including underwear, tracksuits/jackets, cool-dry shirts with or without the print Guard equipment is the place for champions. Visit the stand at the Market Place of the Parkstad Limburg Stadium. You are welcome to come and see our range of products and equipment or visit us for information, without obligation. Of course you can also visit the Guard equipment website: www.guardequipment.nl

ROTEX TEXTILE PRINTING

Corps and/or members who are looking for nice, fun, functional and original clothing with a personal (or club-related) print can visit the ROTEX Textile Printing stand. Qualities of ROTEX: no minimum order quantity, printing on your own clothing (at your own risk) is possible, available 365 days a year for orders etc., textiles or products are also available without print, nearly everything is made on site and while you wait.

As well as textiles, ROTEX also supplies sunshades for the car, drink mugs, bottles and photo key chains. EXCLUSIVELY available from Rotex this year: the DCE t-shirt with the Championship logo in white or black or mini-shirt. ROTEX would love to attend your event. Please visit the blue tent to ask us about the options.

DCE will broadcast this year's Championships live on the internet. Those who cannot come to Kerkrade have the possibility to watch the event directly from a computer, tablet or smartphone.

Nothing is better than being at the fantastic Parkstad Limburg Stadium and enjoying the music, show and atmosphere. However, the webcast offers an alternative for everyone who is unable to travel to Kerkrade. Thanks to the support of Pearl, Adams, DeMoulin and Marchingshop.com, DCE is able to offer the webcast free of charge.

The webcast is carried out by the Video Vault, a partnership between Drum Corps Europe and Color Guard Netherlands. Twenty volunteers have been working for some time to prepare everything and to allow the people at home to watch the event. The broadcast will last for no less than 14 hours and starts at 9:30 am.

The webcast is hosted by Robby Overvliet, who will be joined by Lynnette Prigmore for the first time this year. Analysts Joe Fitzpatrick and Paul Doop will also be there to give their views on the shows.

The webcast will start Saturday at 9:30 (local time GMT+1) and can be accessed through a banner on the DCE website. Watch the intro animation of the DCE webcast below.

Didn't pre-order any tickets online? No problem, you can still buy tickets for the DCE European Championships at the door of the Parkstad Limburg Stadium. So do come to Kerkrade, you'll regret it if you don't! If you come early, you can even upgrade to a better seat!

In the online ticket sale, tickets for sections A, B, C were sold out. Tickets are still available for sections D, E and F. However during the day you can sit wherever you want as seat numbers only apply only from 17.30 hours.

Some tickets for the B and C sections have become available again (because of non-paid tickets). On Championships day, between 12.11 hours (first break in the programme) and 14.30 hours, you will have the opportunity to buy an upgrade for your tickets at the DCE stand. If there are any tickets in sections B and C left after 14.30 hours, these will be sold in the general ticket sales.


Since the seat numbers will not apply until the start of the evening programme, you can go in using the pre-ordered ticket and exchange it for an upgrade during the lunch-time break. Do be careful with your ticket, as it must be in an acceptable state to sell it on.

The Kidsgrove Scouts were crowned champions of the Open Class (Premier Class) at the DCUK Championships in Widnes on Saturday. The A-Class and Junior Class were won by Liberty and Thurrock Marching Brass.

The score for the show 'Miss Saigon' by the Kidsgrove Scouts (85.35) was 1.7 points higher than the number two score, achieved by The Company (83.65), and also by far the highest score this season. Though Kidsgrove was lagging behind during previous contests, they managed to win both the Prelims and the Finals.

The Company had problems with the electronics in the afternoon, and 1.1 penalty points were given for the long time they spent on the field. In the evening things did go according to plan, but even without penalties the corps could not match the score of the Kidsgrove Scouts.

The Dutch corps Juliana got 81.00 points and qualified behind the top two in terms of score, followed by the Black Knights (77.55), Cadence (66.90), East Coast Elite (66.65), Revolution (63.90), 27th Kingswood (61.85) and Nexus (60.45).

The A-Class was won by Liberty (53.35). The Pacemakers came second (49.25) and Spirit of Coventry came third (42.95). In the Junior Class, newcomer Thurrock Marching Brass (60.95) beat Concord All Stars (58.30) and Black Knights Cadets (50.85). Scores and recaps can be found on the DCUK website.

The order of performances for the Premier Class Prelims next Saturday has been published, based on this season's results at the European Music Games. The list is as follows.

10.00 Premier Class Prelims
10.05 Con Spirito
10.23 Wölper Löwen
10.41 Nexus
10.59 Heartliner
11.17 The Vikings
11.35 Spirit of 52
11.53 Starriders
12.11 Break
12.45 Black Knights
13.03 Beatrix
13.21 Juliana
13.39 Jubal
13.57 The Company
14.15 Kidsgrove Scouts

15.00 Junior Class Finals
15.00 Kadoudal
15.17 Confetti
15.34 Jong-Holland Junioren
15.51 Jong Beatrix
16.08 Johan Friso
16.25 Jong Jubal

More information can be found here.

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Don’t have tickets yet for the European drum corps event of the year, the DCE European Championships? Order them quickly! The ticket sales for the European Championships close on Tuesday.

All European top corps are back for the DCE European Championships on Saturday 27th September at the Parkstad Limburg Stadium. The race for the title promises to be unprecedented. In total, as many as 19 corps from all over Europe will appear at the starting line. Not just the competition in the Premier Class, but also the competition in the Junior Class promises to be exciting. From 17.50 euros you can buy a ticket and enjoy a wonderful day of music and show.

Tickets can be ordered here. For more information about the programme, directions and any overnight accommodation options, go to www.drumcorpseurope.org/visit.

Thurrock Marching Brass and the Marching Band Activity UK Facebook Page entered into the record books. Their effort to stage the 'Longest Line of Fanfare Trumpeters' (valved trumpeters) at the DCUK Essex Show on Sunday 7 September 2014 has been confirmed by Guinness World Records as setting a new World Record.

The attempt beats the previous record set at Horse Guards Parade in 2012, with a total confirmed Fanfare Trumpeters of 105. After submitting all the evidence, which included signed statements from three independent stewards and two independent witnesses, together with photographic and video materials along with a confirmed list of participants and all other necessary signed schedules, documentation and a full copy of the original score, Guinness World Records confirmed in writing that the attempt had been successful late on Tuesday 16 September 2014.

The World Record attempt took shape more than a year ago when John Butler, creator of the Marching Band Activity UK Facebook page and Paul Morgan, Chairman of Thurrock Marching Brass were working together to promote John’s Page, which brings together all types of music and marching organisations in one place to share positive experiences and to give them all a community area which they can all come along to and enjoy.

The municipality of Kerkrade has plans to put a roof on the Parkstad Limburg Stadium. An architecture firm has calculated that covering the Parkstad Limburg Stadium, the stadium where the DCE Championships are held, will cost 15 million euros.

The stadium is owned for the majority by the municipality and making it more multifunctional should make it more appealing for the sale. A covered stadium with artificial turf would also make concerts, trade fairs and other events possible. The researchers refer to the Amsterdam ArenA as an example, where only 30 percent of the income of the stadium comes from football activities.

The director of the stadium, who is also the director of the administrative department of the municipality of Kerkrade, told newspaper De Limburger that he still does "not see this happening in the short term". Several options are being considered, including a closed roof and a roof that can open and close.

Would you love to visit the DCE Championships on Saturday 27th September but haven't arranged anything yet? And you think it's too late for that? Think again! Here are some useful tips how to book your travel to and stay in Kerkrade.

TRAVEL TO KERKRADE

BY CAR
The easiest way to travel to Kerkrade is by car. There are other ferry routes from England to Belgium and Holland but most people go Dover - Calais as it's the quickest and cheapest. Some ferry companies are listed below, but the Eurotunnel is a popular crossing as well.

Ferries
www.poferries.com
www.dfdsseaways.co.uk
www.myferrylink.com

Eurotunnel
www.eurotunnel.com


BY AIRPLANE
Maatricht Aachen is the nearest airport, but not many airlines fly into this airport. Amsterdam Airport (214 km from Kerkrade) and Brussels Airport (126 km) are most used. The best way to travel from the airport to Kerkrade is to hire a car. Public transportation to Kerkrade is not great, however it is possible to take the train from Amsterdam Airport to Heerlen, a city nearby Kerkrade. On booking sites, search for the airport abbreviations:

AMS (Amsterdam Airport/Schiphol)
BRU (Brussels Airport/Zaventem)

Hiring a car at the airport
It is easy to hire a car at the airport in Amsterdam or Brussels, however it may be a good idea to book the car in advance because that's usually cheaper. Some websites where you can hire a car (there are plenty more):

www.rentalcars.com
www.easycar.com
www.skyscanner.net/carhire

Going by train from the airport
Kerkrade has a train station. However it is not part of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch National Railways), it belongs to Veolia, a smaller railway company. We do not recommend traveling to the Kerkrade train station. Instead, choose Heerlen which is close to Kerkrade. The distance between the train station of Heerlen and the stadium is 5.9 kilometers.


ACCOMMODATION

There are a number of hotels in the Kerkarde area. You van search for a hotel on websites like booking.com but here is a shortlist of hotels less than 15 kilometers from the stadium:

Fletcher hotel-restaurant Kasteel Erenstein
Oud-Erensteinerweg 6, Kerkrade
www.kasteelerenstein.nl/en

Abbey hotel Rolduc
Heijendallaan 82, Kerkrade
www.rolduc.com/UK/abbey-hotel-rolduc

Amrâth Grand hotel Heerlen
Groene Boord 23, Heerlen
www.amrathhotels.nl/heerlen/welcome-en.html

Tulip inn Heerlen City Centre
Wilhelminaplein 16-18, Heerlen
www.tulipinnheerlencitycentre.nl/en

Bastion Hotel Heerlen
In de Cramer 199, Heerlen
www.bastionhotels.nl/en/hotels/hotel-heerlen

Van der Valk Hotel Heerlen
Terworm 10, Heerlen
www.hotelheerlen.nl/en

From some hotels it is possible to walk to a bus stop nearby for transport to the stadium. If you need to use the bus, ask the hotel about the possibilities before you make your booking.

LOCAL TRANSPORTATION

TAXI

Taxi Service Heerlen
€ 0.60 per kilometer (if the driver has to wait you pay € 32,40 per hour)
Phone 0031 45 571 3333
www.taxiserviceheerlen.nl (Dutch language)

City Tax Kerkrade
Prices unkown
Phone 0031 45 535 1300
www.citytax.nl (Dutch, English and German)

LOCAL BUS ROUTES

From Kerkrade centre (bus stop Oranjeplein)
- bus line 28 to Schinveld (to bus stop Parkstad Stadion)
- bus line 41 to Sittard (to bus stop Parkstad Stadion)

From the train station Heerlen (bus stop Stationstraat)
- bus line 21 to Kerkrade (to bus stop Parkstad Stadion)
- bus line 43 to Vaals (to bus stop Parkstad Stadion)
- bus line 44 to Aachen (to bus stop Parkstad Stadion)
- bus line 29 to Kerkrade (to bus stop Parkstad Stadion)

From the bus stop Parkstad Stadion, walk to the Gamma and then follow the sign to the Parkstad Limburg Stadium (4 minutes walk).


PARKING AT THE STADIUM

There are several big parking lots around the stadium, parking is free. The address of the Parkstad Limburg Stadium is: Roda JC Ring 1, Kerkrade.


ADMISSION TICKETS

Tickets are available in the DCE Ticket Store from just € 17.50. Or buy them at the stadium on the day. Information on the DCE European Championships can be found here.


OTHER THINGS TO DO IN KERKRADE

Leisure Dome
Roda JC Ring 2 (just outside the stadium)
Includes cinema, bowling, glow golf, children's play area, Gamestate, Soccer Arena
www.leisure-dome.nl (Dutch language)

GajaZOO
Dentgenbachweg 105, Kerkrade
www.gaiazoo.nl (Dutch and German)

Swimming pool D'r Pool
Putgang 8, Kerkrade
www.sportfondsen.nl/Accommodatie/Recreatiecentrum%20Der%20Pool/Paginas/ZWEMBAD.aspx (Dutch only)


GENERAL TIPS

- Don't forget your passport.
- You can use most bank and credit cards in The Netherlands as you can in your own country. Most people now take money out from cashpoints, but check with your bank as regards charges.
- (UK/Ireland:) You should inform your car insurance company that you will be driving in mainland Europe and there may be a small charge.
- (UK/Ireland:) On mainland Europe you drive on the right.
- If you are driving through France you must have a safety triangle and high visibility jacket in the car. These are available on the Ferries and at the tunnel shop.
- You may want to take out breakdown and travel insurance, but you don't have to.
- (UK/Ireland:) European mainland time is one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland.
- You may need a European power adapter for your electric equipment.
- If you travel back to the UK or Ireland, make sure you stock up on French beer and wine on the way home. :-)


We hope you'll have a great time in Kerkrade. Questions? Don't hesitate to ask at info@drumcorpseurope.org. (Thanks to Andy Hewlett and Michelle Scheijen for collecting the information.)

Vikings Drum Corps have won their third Irish Championships in a row. In their first year performing as a drum corps, Vikings brought their prison themed production '25 to Life' to the field. The fast moving show strongly featured their well polished frontline, as has come to be expected with the Vikings, and the guard excelled at portraying the theme.

In the run up to finals, their closest competition were Clonmel Bluehawks. There was less than a point separating them in some captions in the previous contest. The Bluehawks opened their show with a wonderful storytelling voice-over which made the beauty and the beast theme of 'As the Last Petal Falls' evident. The band faced backfield before turning to the audience and filling the stand with some of the most uplifting and exciting sounds of the day.

Celtic Crusaders finished a fantastic season in third place on the day. Their show 'Against the Clock' featured some very intricate drill manoeuvres, and came to a particularly impressive close, with a perfect circle from the band, perfectly complimented by guard and props.

Clondalkin Youth Band were only performing their second contest of the season and made a five point improvement on their previous outing, with their show 'Angels and Demons'. The contrast between this contest and the last was also very evident with Inbhear Mor Marchers whose impressive show "Romeo and Juliet" made for fantastic entertainment. Their soloists were particular crowd pleasers.

The Vikings Drum Corps are part of the Tallaght Youth Band organisation and the championships, which took place in Dalymount Park in Dublin were made extra special for the Tallaght group, when their junior band The Cadets were crowned Junior Class Champions 2014.

There will be no break for the Vikings, as they now go straight in to preparations for the DCE Championships in Kerkrade on September 27th. Results of the contest have been published at www.irishmarchingbands.org. The European ranking can be found at www.drumcorpseurope.org/ranking.

Jubal Drum & Bugle Corps prolonged its Dutch Champions title in the Premier Class during the DCN Championships in Dordrecht on Saturday. All captions but one went to the corps.

Jubal won convincingly by winning all caption awards except for Auxiliary (Color Guard). Auxiliary was won by Starriders Drum & Bugle Corps from Bad Münder.

Juliana took silver. In Huizen, the corps from Middelburg had to admit defeat to Beatrix, but this time the roles were reversed. The corps scored 79.05 and 77.90 points respectively. With 75.25 points and High Auxiliary, the Starriders come close to the top four. Spirit of 52 also impressed with its Jungle programme, scoring 73.05 points and breaking its own record.

The Heartliner came sixth (66.20), followed by Jong-Holland, which scored particularly well in the music parts (including fifth place in Ensemble Music). The score of 64.10 is less than one point removed from their highest ever score in the European Music Games.

Con Spirito (55.65) came up just short to stay ahead of the Blue Diamonds. The Blue Diamonds, who participated in the DNC competition for the first time this season, came eighth with 56.70 points. Spirit of Music also debuted at DCN and came tenth with 43.50 points.

Click here for the scores. The European ranking can be found at www.drumcorpseurope.org/ranking.

Jong Jubal from Dordrecht won the fourth title of Drum Corps Netherlands on Saturday. In the FC Dordrecht stadium, the show 'Industry' achieved the highest score in the Junior Class: 76.25 points.

Johan Friso from Middelburg came close with their show 'Game, Set, Match!', and ended in second place with 75.10 points. The corps from the privince of Zeeland also took the awards for Percussion, Music and Front Ensemble. The award for Visual was a tie between Jong Jubal and Johan Friso. The champions also took the High Effect caption.

Jong Beatrix and the Jong-Holland Juniors competed for third place this afternoon. Jong Beatrix' show, 'It's All In the Game', proved good for bronze (69.85). The award for High Auxiliary (Color Guard) also went to Hilversum. With 69.06, 'Shapes, Sounds & Colors' by the Jong-Holland Juniors came just 0.8 points short of the third place. Fifth place went to Confetti, which scored 61.05 points with 'Around the World'.

Drum Corps Europe has started a series of education videos on YouTube entitled 'DCE Education Spot'. In a few minutes, a specific topic is discussed by a DCE judge. The first episode is now online.

Former DCE Adjudication Manager Brian Yothers made a pilot a year ago. Current manager Mark Bassett continued the work of this initiative, which has now resulted in the first official episode. The purpose of the series is to inform corps staff people about design and instruction related topics.

In the first episode, DCE judge Helen Bassett discusses some of the myths in regard to the Field Visual caption. The video van be watched on the DCE channel on Youtube and below.

Brass arranger JD of Shaw Santa Clara Vanguard travels to Rastede to help Spirit of 52 in the run-up to the DCE Championships this month. Shaw will be present the whole week.

JD Shaw, in collaboration with the staff of Spirit will give the final push to the corps, of course with special attention to the hornline. The Friday before the DCE Championships the corps will travel to Aachen to rehearse. Staff Coordinator Björn Geveke is very proud that Shaw joins the staff team for Final week and finds it an honor to be able to experience the Finals together with JD. "A more beautiful Finals I could not imagine", said Geveke.

The Ccoperation with JD Shaw came after talks with Visual Caption Head Mark Gjaltema Spirit of 52. "It was quickly recognised that JD wants to support us and to help us getting to the Finals. We are thankful for that," says Gjaltema. Anyone is welcome to watch Spirit of 52's trainings in Rastede and Aachen.

The Kidsgrove Scouts reduced the points difference with The Company at the DCUK contest in Thurrock on Sunday. In the hunt for the 80 points, the difference in score between the two is now only 0.85 points. 

Seven corps participated in the Open Class (Premier Class) on Sunday. The Company won the contest with 79.85 points, including the Effect and Music captions. The Kidsgrove Scouts won the Visual caption and came second with 79.00 points, followed by the Black Knights (72.70), Cadence (61.65), Nexus (56.40), 37th Kingswood (53.85) and The Pacemakers (50.45).

Thurrock Marching Brass, who organised the contest, took home all of the captions in the Junior Class and scored 54.90 points. The Black Knights Cadets finished second with 41.80 points, and the Cadence Juniors came third with 36.50 points. Scores and recaps can be found on the website of Drum Corps United Kingdom and on the score page.

The DCUK contest in Thurrock was the last regular European contest of the season. From now on, only the national and European championships remain. These will take place in Ireland and the Netherlands on Saturday 13th September, and in the UK on Saturday 20th September. The DCE European Championships will conclude the European Music Games 2014 season on Saturday 27th September.

The Starriders from Bad Münder prolonged their German Open Premier Class title. The corps gave a very strong show, especially when it came to the visual captions. The Blue Bandits won the Concert Class and Blue Diamonds topped the Junior Class.

The audience that had flocked in rewarded all corps with plenty of applause. The Starriders achieved a score of 72.85 in the Premier Class, and scored very well in visual elements. Spirit of 52 came second with 71.35 points and also won the Effect and Music captions. The Heartliner finished third (62.05), followed by Wölper Löwen (60.35). After years of not participating, the Blue Diamonds entered the German Open and came fifth with 54.05 points.

The Diamond Cadets made a good impression as a newcomer in the Junior Class and just beat the Starriders Cadets. Both youth corps were very evenly matched, as evidenced by the small difference in the score of only 0.45 points. The Diamond Cadets scored 41.55 and the Starriders Cadets scored 41.10 points.

The German Open also have a Concert Class, in which four corps competed on Saturday. The Blue Bandits were the winners in this class (56.70). Scores and recaps can be found at www.drumcorpseurope.org/scores.

September is the European 'drum corps month'. And it starts off well, with two championships in one weekend. Today the German Open are held in Hameln, while DCUK runs a show in Thurrock this Sunday.

This year's edition of the German Open, today at the Weserbergland Stadium in Hameln, is very well attended with eleven corps in competition. The Premier Class includes the Blue Diamonds, Heartliner, Spirit of 52, Starriders and Wölper Löwen. In the Junior Class the Diamond Cadets and Starriders Cadets will battle for the title. The German Open also feature a Concert Class, with performances by Blue Bandits, Brass & Drum Corps Kriftel, Red Stars and Fanfarenzug Weyhausen. The doors open at 16.00 hours local time, and the show starts at 17.00 hours. Information can be found on the (revamped) website www.germanopen-online.eu.

The DCUK contest at the Aveley Football Club in Thurrock on Sunday has a great line-up as well. Competing in the Premier Class are 37th Kingswood, Spirit of Coventry, The Pacemakers, Nexus, Cadence, Black Knights, Kidsgrove Scouts and The Company. The Junior Class has three participants: Black Knights Cadets, Cadence Juniors and Thurrock Marching Brass. There are also three exhibition performances by Haverettes All Girls Marching Band, High Voltage Big Band and Coastline Connection Mini Corps. And the contest has a special act as well. At 16.15 hours a Fanfare World Record Attempt commences. The doors open at 10.30 hours, the show starts at noon. Details have been published on the DCUK website.

It is also a busy weekend for the DCE judging community, as judging panels will be on the fields in both Germany and the United Kingdom. Next weekend the Dutch and Irish Championships will take place in Dordrecht and Dublin respectively. The full European Music Games competition schedule can be found here.

The Jong-Holland Juniors will be participating in the DCE Championships. It is the first time that the junior corps from Zwijndrecht - The Netherlands will be competing in the Junior Class of the European event in Kerkrade.

The Jong-Holland Juniors have been taking part in the Drum Corps Netherlands Championships since 2009 but have not previously participated in Drum Corps Europe. According to the staff, the corps is ready. It has enjoyed participating in DCN for years, it suits the development of the corps, and the Jong-Holland Juniors are a good match for the top of the Junior Class.

Participation in DCE has long been a topic of discussion, but this year they have decided to enter. The enthusiasm among the members, parents and staff is great. "This is a good time to enter and see how it goes", said a spokesman of the corps.

In the Parkstad Limburg Stadium, Jong-Holland Juniors will perform their show 'Shapes, Sounds & Colors' on the field. It is the story about an artist who brings a painting to life. The show includes the songs 'Somebody That I Used To Know', 'Candy', 'Set Fire To The Rain' and 'Good Time'.

Jong-Holland Juniors bring the number of participants in the Junior Class to six. However, the total number of participants will not change, because the Staffordshire Knights have let DCE know that they can't take part this year. Drum Corps Europe would like to wish the Staffordshire Knights all the best for the future, hopefully the corps will return to the contest field soon.

Don't have tickets for the DCE European Championships yet? Order them right now from the DCE Ticket Store!

Sitting in third place after the preliminary competition at Sahlen’s Stadium in Rochester, the Reading Buccaneers rallied to take home the 2014 DCA World Championship title last Sunday.

Nine tenths of a point behind the Caballeros of Hawthorne, New Jersey after Saturday’s Prelims, the Buccaneers grabbed the gold medal with a score of 97.55 out of 100 points, doing what they’ve done 12 other times in DCA history.

Even after a one-point penalty assessed during the Finals, the Caballeros would have come up short on the surging Bucs, having to settle for third place with a score of 95.53. That put them behind members of the Minnesota Brass who scored 96.53, to take second place.

Both the Caballeros and Minnesota Brass are former DCA world champions, with their most recent titles won in 2003 and 2011 respectively. 2014 marks the Buccaneers’ third straight title after Minnesota’s win three years ago broke up the Bucs' six-year streak.

Other Open Class finalists included Fusion Core (4th, 94.40), Cadets2 (5th, 92.60), Atlanta CV (6th, 92.40), Bushwackers (7th, 89.80), Hurricanes (8th, 87.35), Carolina Gold (9th, 85.20) and Alliance (10th, 84.05).

In the A-Class competition, the White Sabers of Dansville, New York took home their second-straight DCA Championship title, outscoring the nearest competition by more than four and a half points. The corps finished with first-place marks across all captions adding up to a final score of 88.60.

Other Class A corps that advanced to the Finals competition included the Govenaires (2nd, 83.98), Sun Devils (3rd, 81.00) and Cincinnati Tradition (4th, 75.05). Scores and recaps can be found here. (Text: dci.org)

The Parkstad Limburg Stadium, home of the DCE European Championships, now has artificial turf. DCE Chairman Marcel Matthijsse personally came to check out the state of affairs.

For the first time in the history of Drum Corps Europe, the European drum corps championships will be held on artificial turf. Chairman Marcel Matthijsse travelled to Kerkrade to see the turf and to discuss the use of the artificial turf with football club Roda JC. They discussed the use of the pins that keep the field lines in place in particular.

"The artificial turf looks great and I think that the performers who enter this field will be excited about this", said Matthijsse. The DCE European Championships will be held on Saturday 27th September. Tickets are available from the Ticket Store.