Piping Live! ‘Fanzones’ a new concept in streaming watch-parties

Many of the events from the 2022 Piping Live! Glasgow International Festival of Piping will be tickets live-stream events, bringing the world’s biggest Highland piping festival to a world audience.

The organizers have taken things a step further by creating new “Fanzone” events – essentially watch-parties where audiences can gather in a social setting and enjoy a refreshment or two for a flat $10 fee.

Piping Live! Has partnered with the Ottawa branch of the Pipers & Pipe Band Society of Ontario to create some of the first Fanzones. Pipers, drummers and fans of piping and drumming can gather at Vimy Brewing in Ottawa for three live-streamed events:

• The PM Alasdair Gillies Memorial Recital Challenge, Thursday, August 11, 7 pm EST
• The Gordon Duncan Memorial Recital Challenge, Sunday, August 14, 9:30 am EST
• Piping Live! Closing Concert featuring the Fred Morrison Trio and Paddy Keenan, Sunday, August 14, 2:30 pm EST

“Fanzones are a way of us connecting with organizations to give a sense of the Piping Live! atmosphere for those who can’t make the journey to Glasgow for the festival,” said Piping Live! Director Finlay MacDonald. “The idea is that people can still experience the joy of socializing with friends and family while enjoying the best of piping and drumming that Piping Live! offers in official Piping Live! events.”

PPBSO Ottawa branch President Karine Mayers was instrumental in coordinating the deal with Piping Live! It helped that branch member and Ottawa resident Andrea Boyd is one of the contestants in the Gordon Duncan Memorial Competition.

“Being with people is such an important part of the music that we love, we’ve all really missed this over the last few years, so we wanted to help facilitate events which bring people together after so long looking at laptop screens at home.” – Finlay MacDonald

Canadians (or any lover of spellbinding piping) will also enjoy the musical stylings of Matt MacIsaac of Ontario, who’s in the Gillies Challenge for the first time, joining fellow first-timer and first woman participant Sarah Muir, along with repeat participants Callum Beaumont, Finlay Johnston, and Angus MacColl.

“We see this as a great opportunity to bring our community back together, in person, for the first time in 2022, in advance of our Knockout series returning to in person this fall,” Mayers commented.

It’s a new model for live-streamed piping and drumming events for groups, formalizing the ticketing process, helping to raise funds for other piping and drumming organizations, while promoting community and collegiality after three years of few if any in-person events. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Being with people is such an important part of the music that we love, we’ve all really missed this over the last few years, so we wanted to help facilitate events which bring people together after so long looking at laptop screens at home. We hope to roll out the Fanzones to the rest of the world in years to come,” MacDonald added.

You can secure tickets to the Ottawa Fanzone by hitting up the Piping Live! site.