Lockdown restrictions shut down Donald MacLeod Memorial

The 2020 Pipe-Major Donald MacLeod MBE Memorial Invitational Solo Piping Competition is now officially cancelled due to added pandemic restrictions in Glasgow, where the closed-door socially distanced event was to be held.

The in-person live audience event was originally scheduled for April 3rd. It was then delayed until November 27th, to be staged at the National Piping Centre with competitors and judges adhering to health policies, with no live audience in place.

With Glasgow and Scotland’s Central Belt moving to “Level 3” restrictions under its new lockdown system, travel into or outside the local authority area for non-essential purposes is prohibited, preventing several competitors from attending, thus forcing the decision.

Invitees, all from Scotland, had been Willie McCallum, Bearsden; Gordon McCready, Renfrew; Sarah Muir, Glasgow; Connor Sinclair, Crieff; Iain Speirs, Edinburgh; Stuart Liddell, Inveraray; Angus MacColl, Benderloch; and Niall Stewart, Kyle-of-Lochalsh.

The competition has been held every year since 1993 and is organized by the Lewis & Harris Piping Society and is, in normal times, held in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, the birthplace of the event’s namesake, one of the greatest pipers in history.

A favourite with elite solo pipers, the Pipe-Major Donald MacLeod MBE Memorial Invitational Solo Piping Competition is scheduled to return on April 2, 2021. The competition celebrates MacLeod’s music by requiring pipers to perform compositions from the great composer’s legacy of creative works.

“We are very hopeful that, come next April, the world will have resumed a degree of normality to enable us to resume the competition in Stornoway, its home town, for everyone to enjoy,” Dr. John Smith, chairman of the Lewis and Harris Piping Society, said in a statement.

Finlay Johnston of Glasgow was the winner of the 2019 Donald MacLeod Memorial.

Related

Donald MacLeod Memorial goes digital and live
September 8, 2020

Johnston continues to excel with MacLeod Memorial win
April 5, 2019

Angus MacColl wins Donald MacLeod
April 6, 2018