The Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps won first place this past weekend at the 2026 Drum Corps International (DCI) World Championships in Indianapolis, scoring their second championship in three years. The Bluecoats finished with a score of 99.1, followed by the Blue Devils in second place with 97.5, and Carolina Crown in third with 97.03. Last year's champion, the Boston Crusaders, finished fourth with a score of 95.6.

This is the third time the Bluecoats have won the world title, having previously won in 2024, and ten years ago in 2016. Additionally, this marks only the fifth time a drum corps has earned a final score of 99 points since DCI began 54 years ago. The Bluecoats arrived to Indianapolis boasting an undefeated season, and went on to score the highest in the preliminary stage and the semi-finals. They also won the caption awards for best Color Guard, General Effect, Visual Effect, and Percussion. The caption award for best Brass went to Carolina Crown.

"It's just surreal," said Bluecoats drum major Jason Zheng. "It's really incredible having so much hard work pay off, and to be here with everyone. It's really amazing, this is a feeling like no other." The Bluecoats' 2026 show was titled "Gravity and Grace," and included music from the Beach Boys, Ryuichi Sakomoto, and Yes. Genevieve Geisler, CFO/COO of the Bluecoats, said, "This is something we've been working for for a long time. We've been working so incredibly hard to make this happen and to build up the consistency that's necessary to win caption awards and to win the championship so we're really thrilled about it."

The top seven were rounded out by Santa Clara Vanguard in fifth with 95.02, Blue Stars in sixth with 94.1, and Phantom Regiment in seventh with 92.6.

A full breakdown of the scores is available here.