Piping Live! 2014 – p|d’s daily picks for what to hit

The 2014 edition of Piping Live! Glasgow International Piping Festival is poised to begin on Monday, August 11, with a program of events more diverse than ever. Tens of thousands will descend on Glasgow for the six days of performances and exhibits, culminating with the World Pipe Band Championships on Friday and Saturday, August 15-16, at Glasgow Green.

It’s piping and drumming’s greatest week. There’s nothing else like it. Those who visit Glasgow for all of the six days of Piping Live! are spoiled for choice, and the best thing to do would have been to purchase a £90 Golden Ticket that gets you into just about everything. Considering many people are spending thousands just to get to Glasgow, it’s a fantastic deal.

But for those who have to pick-and-choose what to go to, here is pipes|drums Magazine’s daily picks for the choicest events – to us, anyway – on what we would most look forward to seeing and hearing.

Monday, August 11
Masters Solo Piping Competition – all day, National Piping Centre
Jings, $17 to listen to the world’s very best solo pipers is a terrific deal. Piobaireachd and light music. There are more gold flashing here than at a hip-hop convention.

Pipers of the Great War – A Photographic Exhibition – all day, National Piping Centre
World War I was a horrible thing, but a saving grace was that it produced some of piping’s greatest pieces of light music. Historical photos from the Imperial War Museum and the Scottish National Archives are unveiled for viewing throughout the week.