Dessert delectables and household staples the future of prizes?

pipes|drums recently discussed the rise of solo and band competitions using unaccredited judges, and now there’s a move by some events to eliminate prize money for successful contestants in favour of more traditional things like tins of shortbread, boxes of washing powder, and a fistful of Tunnock’s Tea Cakes.

The tradition of offering various indescribables as prizes dwindled in the 1950s, but replacing them with money never really took off. Some cash prizes at long-running events are actually worth less than a thing of laundry soap, and, when inflation is factored in, carry less monetary value.

Canada’s Inter-Province Pipe Band Championships once offered the most celebrated and valued prize in the world: Mrs. Agnes Twaddle’s Magenta Blancmange. The last band to win the Magenta Blancmange was the 48th Highlanders of Canada in 1951.

While many solo and band contests have upped their prize money considerably, others have lagged, and yet entries have remained strong, so they’ve opted to bring back groceries, household staples and desserts for those who play the best.

“What piper or pipe band wouldn’t be keen to tuck into [a pink blancmange] on a 44-hour bus slog back to Sydney?” – Sheila St. Hubbins, Kiwirrkurra Highland Games

The Kiwirrkurra Highland Games in the Australian outback reportedly plans to resurrect the celebrated Magenta Blancmange at its 2026 solo piping event.

“Nothin’ beats a good bit of blancmange, hey?” commented Sheila St. Hubbins of the Kiwirrkurra Highland Games. “And what piper or pipe band wouldn’t be keen to tuck into that on a 44-hour bus slog back to Sydney?”

Various piping and drumming associations did not respond to a request for comment.