10,000 Pipers New York Parade Scheduled for April

The ScottishPower Pipe Band of Glasgow, Scotland, will lead a parade of an expected 10,000 pipers and drummers in the “ScottishPower Tunes of Glory” march on April 6 in New York city.

The event hopes to obtain at least US$1 million for cancer charities in what could be the largest ever massed pipe band. The energy company, ScottishPower, has agreed to be the title sponsor of the event, citing that it is an “extremely effective way both of raising money for those with cancer and their friends, and of promoting Scotland in the USA and beyond.”

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani has been asked to be honourary chieftain of the event, commenting, “I am delighted to extend my greetings to pipers and pipe bands around the world as we look forward to ScottishPower Tunes of Glory in April 2002. This will be a wonderful event where thousands of pipers and drummers will march through the streets of New York in the name of a great cause.”

Aside from the charitable aspect of the Tunes of Glory parade, organizers hope that it will promote interest in the music of the Highland bagpipe.

The event will be held on “National Tartan Day” in the United States, made official in 1998 as a day when Americans are encouraged to celebrate their Scottish roots. The date was chosen because it coincides with the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320.

According to organizers, fundraising will happen three ways:
players will solicit sponsorships, a fundraising gala where group tables will be sold, and corporate donations.

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