Tournament of Drums moving to Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Tournament of Drums, known for ensembles moving in sync, is moving to a new site Aug. 4. The popular music and marching competition will be held for the first time at the Prairie High School Stadium, 401 76th Ave. SW.

The event will feature six Open Class drum and bugle corps from throughout the United States and Canada.

“We’re excited to offer the show at Prairie this year,” said Mitch Beahm, board president of the nonprofit Iowa Music & Arts Association, which co-hosts the annual competition. “While this is a first for Tournament of Drums, Prairie has a long history as a corps rehearsal site for generations.”

The competition features nearly 1,000 performers ages 12 to 21, on horns, percussion and color guard, who spend their summers perfecting their on-field shows. Thousands of spectators are expected to attend the one-night-only performance. Iowa Music & Arts Association scholarship winners also will be introduced that night.

Co-hosted by the Colt Cadets Drum & Bugle Corps of Dubuque, the time-honored show traces its history to 1950, and returned last year after a hiatus in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic. Books detailing the long history of drum and bugle corps in Cedar Rapids will be sold at the Tournament of Drums.

The show — a three-time recipient of the Best Drum Corps International Open Class Tour Event — features 2022 DCI Open Class runner-up Gold of Bakersfield, Calif.; the Colt Cadets; The Battalion of Salt Lake City, Utah; River City Rhythm of Anoka, Minn.; Southwind of Mobile, Ala.; and Les Stentors of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Conquest from Geneseo, Ill., will perform in exhibition.

Corps begin rolling into Eastern Iowa on Aug. 3, and will stay at area schools, including Wilson, Regis and LaSalle middle schools in Cedar Rapids and Center Point-Urbana and Oelwein.