The Madison Scouts and Merrillville High School "Band of Pirates" are pleased to announce the Merrillville Music Festival, a Drum Corps International (DCI) tour event scheduled for June 28, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. (Central Time) at Merrillville High School's Demaree Stadium.The show is headlined by perennial crowd-pleasers the Madison Scouts (Madison, WI) as well as DCI finalists the Bluecoats (Canton, OH), Blue Stars (La Crosse, WI) and the Spirit of Atlanta (Atlanta, GA). Rounding out the evening's lineup are world-class corps the Glassmen (Toledo, OH) and Pioneer (Milwaukee, WI) as well as the Colt Cadets (Dubuque, IA), Legends (Kalamazoo, MI) and the Racine Scouts (Racine, WI)."We are pleased to bring this event to the Merrillville community and to work with the Merrillville High School band on what will ultimately be a fundraiser for them," stated Chris Komnick, Madison Scouts executive director. "A music event of this magnitude will bring thousands of people into the community and will provide the audience a great night of family entertainment."Once plans were finalized, the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority quickly recognized the opportunity and committed to be a premier-level sponsor for the event. "We are excited to have a show like this taking place in our community," said Spero Batistatos, President and CEO of the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority. "We are working with local businesses to help them benefit from those audience members attending the show.""The Merrillville High School Band is thrilled to partner with the Scouts on hosting this event." said Christopher Haddad, band director. "Not only do we get to experience a great event, but the band program will benefit from the ticket sales and business sponsorships."Drum Corps International, the governing body of the activity, will present over 100 events throughout North America for its 2012 summer tour. Forty-five independent participating groups (corps) perform a twelve minute musical and visual show as part of a tour event. Adjudicated in a number of different categories, each group is scored and ranked by the end of the evening. But competition aside, the audience will get to experience a wide range of musical genres from classical, jazz, Broadway, big band and even rock & roll.Proceeds from the show go to benefit the Merrillville High School Band and the Madison Scouts, both non-profit youth music organizations.Tickets can be purchased online by going to www.MerrillvilleMusicFestival.com or by calling (317) 275-1212. Ticket prices range from $15-25 with discounts available for families and group sales.For those businesses interested in sponsoring and advertising at the event, please contact Chris Komnick at ckomnick@madisonscouts.org or (859) 803-3463.