Actually, drum corps starts with the tryout camps in November and December, and then the camps go once a month until spring training starts in the end of May. They then go 8AM until 11PM everyday for four weeks, then go on the road for seven or eight weeks.
It's pretty intense.
(And for those who think it's just band, you try hauling a forty-pound marching tuba around 15 hours a day while moving at 180 beats/minute!).
We traveled with a corps as part of the food staff last summer for over a week, and my son really loved it. Even the days here in Kansas that were the hottest of the summer (remember those days in July? THAT was the pits). He just loves activities that entail lots of work (like wrestling).