36 bands in for April 13th Ozzie Championships, including Singapore’s Grade 4A Lion City

Princes Park in Maryborough, Victoria, will be the site of the 2024 bi-annual Australian National Pipe Band Championships, where a total of 36 bands will compete across all grades.

Grade 4A Lion City of Singapore will be in the mix, making their first journey to the event. The band has been instructed by Scott Nicolson and Andrew Womersley, Piping Principal of Pipe Bands Australia and Victoria Police Pipe Band drummer, respectively.

Lion City is often challenged by volume restrictions in Singapore, limiting their ability to practice outside. Still, the band has been able to get outdoors by using Pipe-Major Ong Wey Shi’s work premises for occasional practice sessions.

Ong Wey Shi owns Beyond the Octave, a piping business that supplies piping and drumming products across Asia. His band is excited about the trip, as it will be many members’ first overseas competition experience.

The Australian National Championships are held every two years, with different states and their respective associations bidding to host the event. Pipe Bands Victoria has stepped up to take on the 2024 competition.

The only entrants for Grade 1 and Grade 2 are Hawthorn and Emmanuel College, respectively, but the lower grades have solid entries.

Hawthorn are the reigning Australian Champions. They won the event in 2022 when they were in Grade 2, and there was no Grade 1 competition. The band recently was third in Grade 1 against four other bands at the New Zealand Championships.

Here’s the full draw for and other information about the championships.

The town of Maryborough hosted the first Australian Pipe Band Championships in 1961.

Stay tuned to pipes|drums for results from the 2024 Australian National Championships as they are made available.