Chatsworth Open Solo Piping contest to return with £450 top prize and £4,300 total purse

The annual Chatsworth Solo Piping Competitions will return on September 5-6 as part of the 43rd Chatsworth Country Fair in Derbyshire, England, with more than £4,300 in prize money on offer and a £450 first prize in the Captain John MacLellan Memorial Piobaireachd.

That’s a £700 increase over 2025’s record-setting total purse.

Entries close on August 14, with organizers encouraging competitors to submit applications early due to the limited number of performance slots. If contests are oversubscribed, entries will be accepted in the order they are received.

Five Open events will be held:

• Captain John MacLellan Memorial Piobaireachd
• Iain Angus Memorial 2/4 March
• Strathspey & Reel
• Hornpipe & Jig
• 6/8 March

The piobaireachd carries the richest purse, with prizes ranging from £450 for first to £100 for eighth. The 2/4 March and Strathspey & Reel competitions each offer £160 for first place, while the 6/8 March and Hornpipe & Jig each carry a £70 top prize. Competitors entering all five events pay a maximum entry fee of £35.

If one piper wins everything, as Cameron Bonar of Surrey, British Columbia, did in 2025, they will walk away with £1110, or about CAD$2,100 / USD$1,500.

An additional £200 Overall Champion award will go to the competitor accumulating the most points across the five contests. Should competitors finish tied on points, the overall title will be decided on piobaireachd placing.

The Piobaireachd competition was named in honour of Captain John MacLellan after the great piper, teacher, composer and regular judge at Chatsworth died in 1991. The original trophy went missing several years ago, but was recently replaced. Entry requirements call for four tunes of the contestant’s choosing, none of which need to be composed by MacLellan.

Juvenile and CLASP Adult Amateur competitions will be on Saturday, September 5th, and the Open/Senior events will take place on Sunday, September 6th.

Organizers have also announced that the solo piping arena will move to a new location for 2026, closer to Chatsworth House and above the Grand Ring. Competitors will receive complimentary Sunday admission to the estate, while discounted wristbands are available for accompanying family members.

Held annually on the grounds of Chatsworth House, home of the Dukes of Devonshire, the Chatsworth Country Fair attracts crowds of up to 90,000 over its three-day run and is one of England’s largest country shows.

Go here for further details and entries.