Piping Live! poised for tenth annual week-long festivities

Since its inception in 2004, the Piping Live! Glasgow International Piping Festival has gone from its origins as a small “Piping Hot” series of recitals to by far the biggest collective event in the piping and drumming world, and the 2013 edition promises to extend all boundaries with a record number of performances and events from Sunday, August 11th, to Sunday, August 18th.

Almost 200 separate events will take place over the eight days, and organizers expect to attract more than 30,000 people from around world, injecting millions into the Scottish economy in accommodation, travel and restaurant purchases.

The festival has had to adapt slightly this year to the Saturday-Sunday format of the World Pipe Band Championships that will see Piping Live! end after the Sunday. In year’s past the festival’s Masters Solo Piping Competition – a qualifying event for the Glenfiddich Championships – was traditionally held on the Sunday after the Worlds, but this year will take place on Monday, August 12th, in a “Masters Monday” day at the festival.

pipes|drums Magazine is again playing a significant part in the festival as media partner, and by sponsoring two free events. On Tuesday, August 13th, at 2 pm, at the Street Café at the National Piping Centre, the third Pipes+Drums recital of Pipe-Majors and Leading-Drummers performing 1:1. The 2013 edition features Duncan Nicholson and Eric Ward of Greater Glasgow Police; Stuart Liddell and Steven McWhirter of Inveraray & District; and John Cairns and Graham Kirkwood of the Peel Regional Police.

On Friday at 11 am, also at the Street Café, piping legends Chris Armstrong and Bill Livingstone will go head-to-head in the Size Matters debate over whether pipe band sizes should be limited. The issue was again brought to light in a Blogpipe post, resulting in widespread discussion across the Internet.

The festival celebrated its tenth anniversary with a special cake made by a local bakery earlier in the week, with nine-year-old Ruari Buchan, and NPC instructor, Finlay MacDonald, having a slice.

Stay tuned to pipes|drums Magazine for coverage of Piping Live! beginning on Monday.