WILLIAMSBURG — Colonial Williamsburg’s Fifes & Drums, along with fife and drum units from across the United States, will celebrate the tradition of military music during Drummer’s Call May 19 and 20.
A mainstay of the Colonial Williamsburg’s Fifes & Drums program for nearly 20 years, Drummer’s Call highlights the nation’s military and musical heritage by bringing together groups performing various periods of music, including the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War.
All Drummer’s Call events are free and open to the public.
The weekend begins with “Successful Campaign,” an evening of traditional, patriotic military music performed by the Colonial Williamsburg Fifes & Drums Senior Corps and the Grand Republic Fife and Drum Corps, an 1890s-era corps based in Framingham, Massachusetts, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 19, at the Charlton Stage.
On Saturday, May 20, beginning at 12:30 p.m. Colonial Williamsburg’s Fifes & Drums will lead visiting corps from around the country in a Grand March and Review from the Capitol down Duke of Gloucester Street to Market Square. The musicians will then congregate behind the Courthouse where each group will perform.
Participating groups include:
- Colonial Williamsburg Fifes & Drums Jr. Corps
- Colonial Williamsburg Fifes & Drums Sr. Corps
- Colonial Williamsburg Fifes & Drums Alumni
- Field Musick Virginia
- Grand Republic Fife and Drum Corps
- Mountain Fifes and Drums Junior and Senior Corps
- The Old Guard (US Army 3rd Infantry Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps)
- William Diamond Jr. Fife and Drum Corps
- The Fifes and Drums of York Town
Drummer’s Call concludes with the Williamsburg Military Tattoo, an evening march down Duke of Gloucester Street at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 20, featuring the Colonial Williamsburg Fifes & Drums joined by the visiting units.
Visit the Colonial Williamsburg fife and drum corps webpage for more information.
