Kingston-PPBSO sanctioning talks break down

corporate sponsorships, entry fees for solo and band events, vendor fees, commissions on our food and bar sales, and a $5 parking fee. We charge no admission to our event. The event is run entirely by volunteers. We have developed a model which is not gate-dependent.”

The competition has grown since its inception to include contests in all disciplines and grades, and last year more than 100 solo and more that 20 bands entered, making it one of the larger contests in Ontario. Grade 1 bands from the United States have regularly travelled to the festival.

“The PPBSO is eager to work with the Kingston Scottish Festival and find a way to sanction their event that is beneficial to both parties and is fair to our other partners in the Highland games community,” said PPBSO President Chris Buchanan. “We are currently in negotiations to do that. As such, I feel that it does a disservice to all involved to comment publicly on the details of those negotiations while they are still underway. I am hopeful that the PPBSO and the Kingston Scottish Festival will be able to come to a mutually acceptable resolution through the negotiation process.”

But it appears that there will be no more discussions between the two groups.

“We see no benefit from coming within the fold of the PPBSO,” Bell added. “It would result in a complete loss of control of our event and exorbitant administrative costs. We will continue to run our event independently and look forward to this year’s contest on May 28th.”

Unless a competition is run by one of its branches, the PPBSO typically takes an all-or-nothing approach to sanctioning events, running all aspects of the piping, drumming and pipe band competitions. It is the only piping and drumming organization in North America to maintain the model, which is similar to that of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association. All other North American associations take a more flexible approach, allowing games to run their events, set their own entry fees and hire their own stewards, but oversee the rules and regulations and judging of the competitions. Solo entry fees for PPBSO competitors are as much as $17 per separate event entered.

Buchanan did not provide a specific reason for the PPBSO board of directors’ rejection of sanctioning for the Kingston Scottish Festival. His organization has been under some pressure over the last decade to relax its approach to running competitions, and commissioned at least one member-directed study to make recommendations for improvements.