The first international rudimental drummers' symposium drum symposium was held from September 9 to 11, 2016 in Bern, organized by the Swiss drum and fife association, with help from the Swiss military music.

11 Nations responded to the invitation of this unprecedented meeting. First symposium of this scale at the international level, it allowed drummers from all over the world to exchange during 3 days on the specificities of each instrument, notation, repertoire and different traditions. At the end of the three days, France offered to organize the second symposium two years later. At that time, the SIRD did not yet exist, but the idea was born following this richly shared meeting.