Musical face-off: Piping Live! launches in Glasgow

The sixth annual Piping Live! Glasgow International Piping Festival expects to attract more than 16,000 pipers and drummers and some 50,000 additional visitors to Glasgow from August 10 to 16 as bands and enthusiasts again flock to the World Pipe Band Championships.

 

The event was officially kicked off in Glasgow on May 27th with a number of top solo pipers and drummers emblematically painting their faces in the flags of nations prominent in piping and drumming.

 

The week-long Piping Live! festival is seen by many as the marquee event of the piping and drummer year with events across the city, including recitals, free concerts, displays, workshops and product launches.

 

The festival will open with the platinum-selling Red Hot Chilli Pipers performing in concert with Bodega. On August 12th “From Battle-Lines to Barlines – the Musical Pulse of Scottish History” will be at St Andrew’s in the Square, featuring “a fabulous take on Scottish history through music,” with Allan MacDonald and Gaelic singer Margaret Stewart and other well known musicians.

“Glasgow is a hub of musical talent and Piping Live! is a great opportunity to experience the best names in traditional music and everything from the pipes to fiddles to a bit of rock and roll and dancing,” said Roddy McLeod, director of Piping Live!

 

The festival will wrap up once again with the “After Worlds Shindig” at the Old Fruitmarket following the pipe band competition. The Peatbog Faeries, Ross Ainslie and Jarlath Henderson, the Finlay MacDonald Band and Skerryvore are scheduled to perform.

 

The full schedule of Piping Live! events will be announced soon, organizers said. Piping Live! was determined to contribute more than £1.3 million to the local economy, and is sponsored by Glenfiddich with support from Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, EventScotland, Homecoming Scotland 2009, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Arts Council, the RSAMD and the National Piping Centre.