Fourth RSPBSA major championship cancelled
The Scottish Pipe Band Championships have been cancelled by the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association.
The event had been scheduled for July 25th in Dumbarton, Scotland, and was to be the fourth of five major championships in the association’s season. The British, European and UK championships had already also been cancelled outright, and not postponed.
The move leaves only the World Pipe Band Championships, still officially scheduled for August 14-15 in Glasgow, left as a glimmer of hope for the season.
But it is anticipated that the event will be officially cancelled soon, although both the RSPBA and co-organizers Glasgow Life have neither responded to questions nor made an announcement.
The Scottish Championships were to be held with the underwriting of the West Dumbartonshire Council.
The RSPBA had also announced that competitions at Bridge of Allan and North Berwick were cancelled. The events were scheduled around the World Championships and offered additional contest opportunities for bands from outside the UK so that they could get more from their huge investment in travelling to Scotland.
Grade 1 Manawatu Scottish of New Zealand previously postponed their trip to Scotland, instead looking to 2021 for their bi-annual journey.
The RSPBA has not reported on its financial situation after Executive Officer Ian Embelton said that the association would be relying on payments from the 2020 major championships to cover a six-figure debt created from reported cost overruns from the renovation of the association’s Glasgow headquarters.
Inveraray & District was the winner of the rain-drenched 2019 Scottish Championships, and went on to win the World’s a few weeks later.
There has been no announcement regarding Inveraray & District’s Pre-World’s concert, scheduled for August 12th in Glasgow, and Pipe-Major Stuart Liddell confirmed to pipes|drums on April 1st that his band continues to prepare for the event.
Both the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo were cancelled outright on April 1st. Both multi-week August extravaganzas are the two biggest cultural and tourist events in Scotland.
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