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Photographer Alister Sinclair was on the scene on the second day of the festival
Iain MacDonald, Regina, reports on a few events that caught his eye and ear on the Tuesday of Piping Live! 2024
The Strathclyde Suite at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall was packed with enthusiasts, each paying £18.50 (about $33), heard and saw Scotland’s Inveraray & District win the annual International Quartet Competition for Grade 1 bands. It was the sixth time that Inveraray won the event and the first since 2017.
Eala McElhinney of Glasgow won Heat 2 of the four-round qualifying stages of the 2024 Pipe Idol competition for young players.
Our intrepid photographer, Alister Sinclair, captures images from the world’s biggest week of piping, drumming and craic, starting with the first full weekday of events.
Iain MacDonald of Regina reports on a few standout events on the first weekday of the festival
Alan Bevan of Abbotsford, British Columbia, was the overall winner of the 2024 Masters Solo Piping Competition and thus gained one of 10 spots at the 2024 Glenfiddich Championships in October. Bevan got the job done with two thirds in the two-event contest.
Brendon Eade of Waikato became the first New Zealander to win the MacCrimmon Trophy at the Inter-Celtic Music Festival, a contest that requires Highland pipers to compete in Scottish, Irish and Breton musical genres in three separate events. Liam Kernaghan of Auckland, New Zealand, was second overall as well.
Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia’s Leading-Drummer Kerr McQuillan was the winner of the British Adult Solo Drumming Championship, the Sixth in the series of events to determine competitors in the semi-final at the World Solo Pipe Band Snare Drumming Championships on October 19th in Glasgow. Including the World Solos, points accrued in the eight events go towards determining the RSPBA’s new Adult World Solo Snare Drumming Champion of Champion title.
MacKenzie Fraser of Glasgow won the first heat in the 2024 Pipe Idol competition at this year’s Piping Live! Glasgow International Festival of Piping. The heat was held at the festival’s Street Café and judged by a group of unidentified pipers in the audience. They were the ones looking very serious.
As a service to the many pipe band enthusiasts, fanboys and fangirls in and around Glasgow for the Piping Live! festival and World Pipe Band Championships, we’re pleased to publish the 2024 edition of our pipes|drums Guide to World’s Week Grade 1 Band Practices. Fourteen are entered in the top […]
The Piping Live! Glasgow International Piping Festival has officially started, with dozens of events across Scotland’s biggest city. With so many options, how can you decide what to attend? pipes|drums is here to help. So, if you don’t have unlimited time, as you might have to practice with your band, […]
Field Marshal Montgomery became the 2024 European Pipe Band Champions at a warm and sunny South Inch Park at the fourth and final RSPBA major championship before the World’s on August 16-17 in Glasgow. While Field Marshal Montgomery took the event and Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathagte Caledonia won the drumming, Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia turned heads with two firsts in piping, placing fourth.
Pipe bag maker introduced sheepskin alternatives to non-UK markets
Named after Lady Maket, the first named-piper in history who lived more than 3,000 years ago in Egypt, the National Piping Centre has launched the Maket Collective, a group of six accomplished woman pipers working as “ambassadors” with a core objective of creating a focal point for content about women […]
In 2023, there were different winners of Grade 1 and Grade 2 and all major championships leading up to the World Championships, and on the eve of the European Championships, the same pattern is emerging. Only a few weeks before the RSPBA outdoor competition began, Perth, Scotland, stepped up as […]