Livingstone, Dunbar, Dungannon kick-start contest seasons

The coming weekend marks several important events around the piping and drumming world, with the annual William Livingstone Sr. Memorial Invitational Piping Competition in Ontario and the beginning of the UK outdoor pipe band season with the traditional opener at Dunbar, Scotland.

 

“The Livingstone” this year will feature 10 competitors accepting the invitation to compete on Saturday, May 9th, at the James Street Armoury in Hamilton, Ontario. The familiar format of the contest follows again in 2009, starting with a Piobaireachd event at 1:30 pm, and then a March, Strathspey, Reel, Hornpipe & Jig competition beginning at 7:30 that evening.

 

Entered are:

 

Some 5,000 kilometres away on the same day in Dunbar will be the first outdoor pipe band competition, featuring all grades. The event will mark the Grade 1 début of the newly promoted Torphichen & Bathgate Pipe Band, competing against three other bands in the top grade.

 

Over in Northern Ireland is another smaller pipe band competition in Dungannon, Banbridge, at which four Grade 1 bands are entered, including 2008 World’s runner-up Field Marshal Montgomery and reigning Champion of Champions St. Laurence O’Toole. The following day at Gourock, Scotland, is another contest, putting the UK season into full swing.

 

And the following Saturday, May 16th, is the first RSPBA major championship, the Scottish, at Dumbarton, Scotland.

 

Stay tuned to pipes|drums for results from all of these events as they are made available.