RSPBA championships season opens at Dumbarton

The first major championship of the 2012 UK season will again take place at Dumbarton, Scotland, when more than 160 bands compete at the Scottish Championships at Levengrove Park, including 16 in Grade 1.

The first weekend of competitions in Scotland proved to be disappointing at the premier-grade level, with a two-band contest at Dunbar and a cancelled event at Gourock due to numerous withdrawals due to poor weather at the Sunday competition. It was in Grade 2 where two bands emerged victorious, with Denny & Dunipace Gleneagles and Glasgow Skye Association on top.

The Scottish will mark the first championship in Grade 1 for Seven Towers of Northern Ireland, promoted from Grade 2 after a solid 2011 season, as well as a return to the top grade by Ravara, also of Northern Ireland, and Scotland-based Grampian Police. Seven Towers won the Grade 2 event at the 2011 World Pipe Band Championships.

Field Marshal Montgomery won the 2011 Scottish Championship, starting the band’s clean sweep of the five RSPBA majors.

The weather forecast for Saturday is partly sunny with a high of 9 degrees Celsius (48 Fahrenheit), winds out of the northeast at 10-20 mph, and a 40 per cent chance of rain in the afternoon.

Stay tuned to pipes|drums for results from the 2012 Scottish Championships as they become available.