Brisbane, PBQ on board to host 2028 Australian Pipe Band Championships

Bands from the Northern Hemisphere looking to conclude their winter with a trip Down Under can start planning now, after Pipe Bands Australia announced that Pipe Bands Queensland (PBQ) will host the 2028 Australian Pipe Band Championships in the east coast city of Brisbane, close to some of the country’s finest beaches and the Great Barrier Reef.

The Australian Championships are run by Pipe Bands Australia every two years, and hosting responsibilities are shared with one of PBA’s six state and territory branches (Pipe Bands Western Australia, Pipe Bands New South Wales, Pipe Bands Queensland, Pipe Bands Victoria, Pipe Bands South Australia, Pipe Bands Tasmania), depending on which association makes a successful bid.

Pipe Bands Western Australia reported that the 2026 Championships attracted more than 7,500 attendees, with more than 4,000 watching the full-day YouTube live stream.

A total of 27 bands competed, relatively fewer than recent Australian Championships, due primarily to the event being several thousand kilometres from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, where the majority of the country’s competing bands reside.

The Grade 2 Western Australia Police Pipe Band were awarded the top title, even though there were no other entrants, and the country’s sole Grade 1 band, Hawthorn from Melbourne, did not make the trip.

Perth Metro were the aggregate winners among five other bands in Grade 3, the highest-contested grade at the championships.