2023 Lake Erie Fanfare coming Monday in Edinboro. What's ahead for 2024?
If your toes can't help tapping to the beat of a drum and blasts from bugles give you goosebumps, mark Monday on your calendar. That's when the Lake Erie Fanfare will take place in Edinboro.
The event is a Drum Corps International competition.
When and where is the fanfare?
The Lake Erie Fanfare will begin Monday at 7 p.m. at Sox Harrison Stadium, 455 Scot Road, Edinboro, on the campus of PennWest Edinboro. Gates will open at 5:30 p.m. Box office assistance will be available beginning at 4 p.m.
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Who is performing?
Corps scheduled to perform that night are:
Spirit of Atlanta of Atlanta, Georgia, 7:10 p.m.
Seattle Cascades of Seattle Washington, 7:27 p.m.
Jersey Surf of Camden County, New Jersey, 7:44 p.m.
Genesis of Austin, Texas, 8:01 p.m.
Intermission, 8:18 p.m.
Pacific Crest of Diamond Bar, California, 8:38 p.m.
The Cadets, formerly of Allentown and now of Erie, 8:55 p.m.
Encore by Pacific Crest, 9:12 p.m.
Spirit of Atlanta
Tracing its roots back to 1976, this drum and bugle corps describes itself on its website as "a symbol of the dynamic Southern charm, the beating heart of musical performance and showmanship that embodies the spirit of our great city" and travels in five buses, three tractor trailers and a handful of support vehicles.
Seattle Cascades
The Pacific Northwest's oldest youth organization in the pageantry arts, this drum and bugle corps has been representing its region since 1966 and has helped shape the lives of more than 5,000 young people, according to its website. The Cascades travel more than 13,000 miles across the United States each summer.
Jersey Surf
This drum corps was founded in the winter of 1990 by a group of band instructors wanting to provide a year-round activity for band members who wanted to do more after the traditional marching band season had ended, according to its website.
Genesis
Known as the "marching ambassadors" of Austin, this drum and bugle corps has a mission to provide life enriching experiences to its youth through the medium of the marching arts and has more than 250 performers, according to its website.
Pacific Crest
Performers with this southern California drum and bugle corps travel 12,000 miles and perform for 100,000 fans each summer, according to their website.
The Cadets
Founded in Garfield, New Jersey in 1934 and first known as the Holy Name Cadets, this drug and bugle corps was recently located in Allentown before moving its headquarters to Erie in 2023. The Cadets corps includes 165 brass musicians, percussionists and color guard performers from across the U.S. and world, ranging in age from about 17 to 22, according to its website.
Ticket information
Advance reserved tickets are available online for $30 plus a $6.95 processing fee, according to the DCI ticketing site. The cost is $15 plus a $2.95 fee for "scholastic groups" of 15 or more. Backside general admission tickets are $10. Tickets the day of the event will be $5 more. Children under the age of 3 don't need a ticket as long as they are sitting on a lap.
Paper tickets will not be printed and mailed, according to the ticket site. Patrons will either receive a mobile ticket using their smartphone or print-at-home ticket delivery. The box office will be cashless.
Learn more and order tickets at dci.org/events/2023-lake-erie-fanfare.
Future of the fanfare
An online "message from the Lake Erie Fanfare" says this will be its "final edition" and the "event will be gifted over to the Cadets as their new home show here in Erie."
The world-renowned drum corps signed a deal this year to make the Erie Sports Center in Summit Township the year-round home of The Cadets.
Finding a new home: The Cadets drum corps coming to Erie long term
John Broschak, chairperson of The Cadets board, said the corps already hosts a show in Annapolis, Maryland, and it just kind of made sense for the organization to take over the Erie competition after moving here.
He said there hasn't been an official transition yet, but it's likely The Cadets would take over starting with the 2024 event. He said the Lake Erie Fanfare's name would stay the same as would its early August date and possibly the Edinboro location used in recent years. The event was held for many years at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Erie.
The Cadets want to continue the four-decade legacy of the Lake Erie Fanfare and possibly even make it bigger, Broschak said.
Officials from the fanfare couldn't be reached for comment.
Dana Massing can be reached at dmassing@timesnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: 2023 Lake Erie Fanfare set for Edinboro's Sox Harrison Stadium
