Drum Corps Europe cease operations

It is with great regret that we announce today that Drum Corps Europe will terminate all its current activities effective immediately, including DCE Championships, the DMG/DCN competition and Indoor Music Games. This is not a decision that has been made lightly. In the last couple of weeks before and after our very successful DCE Championships the board has had a lot of discussions about the future of DCE.

This year was the last year of a multiannual contract with the Parkstad Limburg Stadium. The contract needs to be renewed, and it is also a year in which we needed to make decisions on several new investments. The question for the DCE board to ask is how we can keep the foundation healthy (in regard to the organisation and the finances) in the short and long term. Also, in the light of the decreasing number of corps.

We have great volunteers and judges who are prepared to spend a lot of their free time to support the events and continue to develop and educate themselves. The staff, judging team and board of DCE consists of volunteers only. In the last couple of years we have seen people leave, and we couldn’t find suitable candidates for a management functions, despite various attempts. For the three remaining board members, the time has come to take a step back. Changes in our personal lives mean we can’t spend as much time as we would like to on the activity, and as much time as is needed. We noticed that sometimes we were delivering half a job, and even worse, we weren’t developing the future of the activity.

Of course we have considered continuing the current path for another year or two, but finally agreed that stopping at a height is better than having to stop because there is nothing left. We see that there is still enough potential to build a future with new initiatives.

Our decision does not mean that the legal entity of Drum Corps Europe will be terminated. The foundation will start and manage the DCE Heritage Fund. The foundation is currently healthy and with the available funds, the foundation wants to support new initiatives that are focused on keeping and growing the drum corps activity in Europe. Most importantly, the initiative needs to have the goal to keep the European Music Games alive. There must also be a solid business plan that shows that activities can be guaranteed over several years at a high standard with independent judging by qualified judges. Applications can be honored for as long as a budget is available. For more information, please contact us at info@drumcorpseurope.org.

We would like to thank all present and past volunteers, judges, partner organisations, sponsors, corps, fans and everyone involved for their fantastic support during the last 17 years. It has been an amazing journey. We wish you all the best for the future and hope to see the first proposals for a new music games competition in Europe soon. 

The board of the Drum Corps Europe foundation

19th October 2017