SEATTLE — During a meeting of Drum Corps International’s voting membership, the Sacramento Mandarins were approved to return to the DCI Tour for the 2027 competitive season.
Following the summer of 2025, the Mandarins’ board of directors voted to take a one-year hiatus to reevaluate the corps’ financial standing and strengthen internal operations for long-term sustainability.
Throughout the hiatus, the Mandarins remained in close contact with DCI leadership to prepare for their official return.
“Every two weeks we meet with Drum Corps International representatives, and they are intimately close to our journey and all our financials and just any processes we have questions on,” Mandarins president and CEO Daniel Fong said in an interview with DCI.org in July. “So when it comes time for petitioning to have access to the tour in September, there will be no surprises. They would make their recommendations, and they also would be coaching us on anything else that we need to provide for them. That’s been a constant relationship.”
Support for the comeback has extended well beyond Sacramento, with Fong highlighting an outpouring of encouragement from across the drum corps activity.
“The other CEOs and corps directors have been reaching out, offering help and encouragement,” Fong said. “It’s been nothing but positivity from every aspect of the community.”
Behind the scenes, the Mandarins have been quietly securing staffing and operational logistics ahead of offseason recruitment for 2027, while building out their leadership and instructional staff under updated fiscal guidelines.
“We’ve been actively talking to potential staff and administrators to put together our team for 2027,” Fong said. “At the same time, we’re building our budgets, planning fundraising, and refining our operational processes to ensure we don’t find ourselves in a position where we have to take a step back again.”
As the organization pushes forward toward its 2027 return, Fong emphasized that the corps remains driven by its community, alumni and students.
“We’re ready, and we can’t wait to get back out there with our friends and do this crazy thing called drum corps,” Fong said. “It’s such a vital subculture that we all love. Support your corps, support drum corps in general, and really support the kids, because they truly make a difference in the world.”
