Sunday, June 15, 2025

Drummers Call Returns to Colonial Williamsburg this Weekend

The Colonial Williamsburg Fifes & Drums Senior Corps performs near the courthouse in 2023. (Brendan Sostak)

WILLIAMSBURG — The Colonial Williamsburg Fifes & Drums, along with seven visiting fife and drum units, will celebrate the tradition of military music during Drummer’s Call May 16-17.

According to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 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.

The 2025 Drummer’s Call weekend will feature the Colonial Williamsburg Fifes & Drums, 1st Michigan Colonial Fife and Drum Corps, Civil War Field Music 1st Pennsylvania PRVC, Field Musick of the American Revolution, Colonial Williamsburg Fifes and Drums Alumni, Fifes and Drums of York Town, Guilford Courthouse Fifes and Drum Corps and Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes and Drums.

All Drummer’s Call events are free and open to the public.

Rebecca Sterner, lead fife instructor with Colonial Williamsburg, has been working to plan the weekend’s events.

“There is something really stirring about hearing all of these groups with all of their unique traditions and arrangements that all come together to celebrate this same incredibly niche thing. I knew that I was with people that were all in the same community and that we all really cared both about presenting this music to the public but also carrying on the tradition,” Sterner said.

During the Drummer’s Call, various musical performances will take place around the historic area. On May 16, there will be an evening concert at 7:30 p.m. on the Charlton Stage. The show will feature 18th-century military field music performed by the Colonial Williamsburg Fife and Drum Senior Corps and the Middlesex County Volunteers.

On Saturday, May 17, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., The Colonial Williamsburg Fifes & Drums will lead visiting corps in a Grand March and Review from the Capitol down Duke of Gloucester Street to Market Square. The musicians will congregate behind the Courthouse where each group will perform.
Drummer’s Call concludes with the Williamsburg Military Tattoo, a torch-lit march down Duke of Gloucester Street at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 17, featuring the Colonial Williamsburg Fifes & Drums joined by the visiting units.
With rain in the forecast for the weekend, contingency plans are currently being set by the organization. For the most up-to-date rain information, visit colonialwilliamsburg.org.

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