The Reading Buccaneers Drum and Bugle Corps will host the Buccaneer Classic competition on Saturday, July 15, at 6:30 p.m. The event will be held at Georgelis Law Firm Stadium, 340 Mumma Drive, Landisville, in partnership with the Hempfield Band Booster Club.

During the show, drum and bugle corps from Drum Corps Associates (DCA) and Drum Corps International (DCI) will compete against each other. The competition will feature groups from across the country, including the Bushwackers from Princeton, N.J.; the Skyliners from Scranton; the Saints from Columbus, Ohio; the White Sabers from Rochester, N.Y.; the Cabelleros from Hawthorne, N.J.; and the Buccaneers.

Each group will have a total of 17 minutes on the field during the competition. Nine to 12 minutes will be allotted for the performance, and the remainder of the time will be used to enter and exit the field. The judges will keep track of each group's timing and analyze the different aspects of the group's performance, such as the brass section and color guard. The competition will begin and end with a performance from a Buccaneer alumni corps, after which the scores will be announced.

The partnership between the Buccaneers and the Hempfield Band Booster Club began in 2018, when Bill Powers, then the Hempfield band director and member of the Buccaneers, was looking for a location to hold an additional show after the Buccaneers' home event in Reading. The proceeds from the show are distributed between the Buccaneers and the Hempfield Band Booster Club; the funds given to the booster club assist the band with uniform and instrument expenses for its members.

The Reading Buccaneers is a nonprofit organization. Members pay to participate, but the corps provides instruments, equipment and educational insight on performing in a drum and bugle corps.

"I was drawn to the intensity of the music," said Rick Thompson, co-chair of the Buccaneers. "There are no woodwinds, so it's a bit different from your typical marching band." Thompson joined the Buccaneers in 1989; prior to joining, he primarily drummed in garage bands as a teenager. Thompson marched for a few years but returned as a volunteer in the '90s. "It's evolved over the years as a marching arts medium," Thompson added. "It's unique, kind of like marching band on steroids."

Drum and bugle corps also differ from standard marching bands in the variety and focus of their performances. Drum and bugle corps work on a single show during a season, whereas professional marching bands will often rotate through several routines.

Tickets for the competition are able to be purchased on the Reading Buccaneers' website and will be available at the door. Two rows of handicapped-accessible seats will be reserved for attendees with wheelchairs and their companions.

For more information, visit http://www.readingbuccaneers.org.