Night settles slowly over Rawamangun. From the busy main road, Jakarta International Velodrome looks like a spaceship parked in the middle of the city—its giant white dome, rings of light, and rows of flags standing like gatekeepers. Inside, it’s not the sound of bicycle chains you hear first, but the echo of snares, shouted commands, and brass warming up. Jakarta isn’t asleep yet, but tonight, it’s drum corps that wakes the city up.
From Wooden Track to Circle of Rhythm
Officially, this velodrome was born as a home for track cycling. First opened back in the 1970s and then completely renovated for the 2018 Asian Games, the building has a 250-meter wooden track designed by Schuermann Architects and can hold up to around 8,500 spectators when used for concerts or shows.
By day, it’s a world-class sports arena. But as soon as the spotlights come on and the stands begin to fill with people in band jackets, community hoodies, and bags full of mallets and guard gloves, the velodrome’s character shifts: that wooden ring turns into a giant stage, where measured steps replace spinning wheels.
In recent years, Jakarta International Velodrome has slowly expanded its role—not just hosting cycling events like UCI Track Nations Cup 2023, but also being used regularly for other events: futsal, concerts, and large-scale shows.
And 2025 is the year when marching arts officially “claim” the velodrome’s ring as their second home.
August: WAMSB Knocks on the Door
The first big wave hit in August. For the very first time, the World Association of Marching Show Bands (WAMSB) World Championship 2025 was held in Indonesia—and they chose Jakarta International Velodrome as the main arena.
From August 8–10, 2025, 36 bands from inside and outside the country marched into an arena usually reserved for track cyclists.
The wooden track below the stands was covered with flooring and white formation lines. From morning till night, the stadium was filled with the sound of cutting brass, flowing woodwinds, and drumlines playing as if tomorrow didn’t exist.
This is where the city started to be “woken up” in a different way.
Rawamangun, usually associated with campuses, traffic, and football stadiums, suddenly had convoys of buses carrying overseas participants, foreign flags flying in the parking lot, and local spectators seeing marching shows with production value closer to a film festival than a casual Independence Day parade.
December: Jakarta Drum Corps International Takes Over
If August was the knock on the door, then December 2025 is when drum corps officially kicks it open.
Jakarta Drum Corps International (Jakarta DCI) 2025 is scheduled for December 19–21, 2025, again at Jakarta International Velodrome.
The event is organized by Indonesia Drum Corps Association (IDCA) in collaboration with Drum Corps International (DCI)—a name that, in the marching world, is basically the “Premier League” of drum corps.
And the format is no joke:
- Drum Corps: World Class, Open Class, Student Class
- SoundSport: a flexible format for creative units that don’t need to be full corps
- Drumline Battle: drum duels that usually make the stands jump to their feet
- Street Parade: the city itself gets pulled into the show, not just the venue
- Flag Ensemble: flags moving like poetic sentences written in the air
Its tagline: “Marching Beyond Borders”—a clear statement that this isn’t just another yearly contest, but a bridge between cities, countries, and generations.
On the Velodrome Ring, the City Breathes in 8 Counts
Picture the first night of Jakarta DCI.
From the outside, the velodrome dome glows. Inside, the circular stands are packed with spectators from all over—Bandung, Surabaya, Medan, Makassar, even from abroad. The arena ring feels like a modern cathedral: tall, cold, but full of expectation.
One corps enters.
Bass drums line up on the starting line, the snare line forms a block, the brass stands tall under the white lights. When the announcer calls their name, the atmosphere flips in a split second:
The count begins:
“Five, six, five-six-seven-eight!”
Brass slams into the first chord, the guard tosses rifles into the air, and the drumline starts painting rhythm in the velodrome’s air. Their sound bounces off the concrete walls and metal roof, creating echoes louder than Jakarta traffic outside.
On the ring of the velodrome, time seems to be measured differently. No longer by office hours or train schedules, but by:
- 8 counts to move into the next set,
- 16 bars to build emotion,
- 1 impact moment where the entire stand holds its breath before exploding into applause.
A city normally woken by car horns and phone notifications, that night is awakened by brass crescendos and impact chords.
Why This Matters for the City
First, Jakarta finally has a world-class indoor venue that’s being used to the fullest by the marching arts community, not just track cyclists. A capacity of up to 8,500 for shows means one thing: the dream of band kids to perform on a real big stage is no longer far-fetched.
Second, events like WAMSB and Jakarta DCI make Jakarta look different in the eyes of the world. Not just a big city that’s crowded and congested, but a cultural hub where sports, music, and visual arts meet in one circular arena.
Third, for thousands of young performers—brass, battery, pit, guard—the velodrome’s ring can become a turning point in their lives:
This is where they learn discipline, teamwork, and what it feels like to give everything they have for an 11-minute show. It’s not that different from a rock band finally stepping onto their first major festival stage.
Closing: When Drum Corps Awakens the City
Jakarta International Velodrome was built for speed, for chasing time, for races where whoever is fastest wins.
But in 2025, the velodrome’s ring takes on another role: it becomes the place where the city is reminded that there is another kind of noise worth celebrating—noise that is organized, relentlessly rehearsed, and born from a deep love of music and movement.
On the ring of the velodrome, drum corps awakens the city.
Not to make us panic, but to remind us: in the middle of Jakarta’s chaos, there are always people willing to repeat one line of drill and one fragment of melody hundreds of times, just to create eleven minutes of beauty that make thousands of people stand up and cheer.***
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