Emmanuel College rise to win Grade 2 at 2026 Maclean Gathering

Maclean, New South Wales, Australia – April 4, 2026 – The Emmanuel College Highlanders (University of Queensland) and the Pipeband Club won the Medley and MSR events, respectively, and it was Emmanuel College that took the overall Grade 2 trophy at the annual 121st Maclean Highland Gathering, one of the world’s longest-running piping and drumming events.

The Grade 2 contest was the largest entry in Australia in nearly a decade, including the Australian Championships. None of the Grade 2 bands that competed at the MacLean Gathering plan to travel to Perth, Western Australia, for the Australian Pipe Band Championships on April 11th, where the Western Australia Police are the sole entry.

With only one piping judge in each event, the piping result is doubled.

The weather was horrible in the morning. Bands were drenched during the mandatory Street March, but conditions cleared for the rest of the day.

Grade 2
Overall
1st Emmanuel College Highlanders (University of Queensland)
2nd The Pipeband Club
3rd St Andrews (Qld)
4th City of Melbourne No. 1
Drumming: The Pipeband Club

Medley
1st Emmanuel College Highlanders (University of Queensland) (1,1,1,1)
2nd The Pipeband Club (2,2,2,2)
3rd St. Andrews (Qld) (3,3,3,3)
4th City of Melbourne No. 1 (4,4,4,4)
Judges: Ali MacKenzie (piping), D. Want (drumming), T. McGirr (ensemble)

MSR
1st The Pipeband Club (2,2,1,2)
2nd Emmanuel College Highlanders (University of Queensland) (1,1,3,3)
3rd St. Andrews (Qld) (3,3,2,1)
4th City of Melbourne No. 1 (4,4,4,4)
Judges: Willie McCallum (piping), D. Gray (drumming), Brett Tidswell (ensemble)

Grade 3 & Development
Overall
1st Brisbane Boys’ College
2nd BBC Old Collegians
Drumming: BBC Old Collegians

Medley
1st Brisbane Boys’ College (1,1,2,1)
2nd BBC Old Collegians (2,2,1,2)
Judges: Brett Tidswell (piping), D. Gray (drumming), Sam Young (ensemble)

MSR
1st Brisbane Boys’ College (1,1,2,1)
2nd BBC Old Collegians (2,2,1,2)
Judges: A. Sneddon (piping), D. Want (drumming), T. McGirr (ensemble)

Grade 4A
Overall
1st Moree Caledonian Society
2nd City of Ipswich
3rd New South Wales Highlanders
4th Gold Coast Tweed Inc.
5th Queensland Irish Association
6th Maclean & District
Drumming: New South Wales Highlanders

Medley
1st Moree Caledonian Society (1,1,4,1)
2nd City of Ipswich (2,2,3,3)
3rd New South Wales Highlanders (3,3,2,5)
4th Gold Coast Tweed Inc. (5,5,6,4)
5th Queensland Irish Association (4,4,5,6)
Judges: Sam Young (piping); D. Gray (drumming), Ali McKenzie (ensemble)

MSR
1st City of Ipswich (1,1,5,1)
2nd Moree Caledonian Society (2,2,3,2)
3rd Maclean & District (4,4,1,4)
4th New South Wales Highlanders (5,5,2,3)
5th Gold Coast Tweed Inc. (3,3,4,5)
6th Queensland Irish Association (6,6,6,6)
Judges: A. Sneddon (piping), D. Want (drumming), Brett Tidswell (ensemble)

Grade 4B
Selection of Marches
1st Wynnum RSL (2,2,1,4)
2nd Moree Caledonian Society (1,1,7,3)
3rd Maclean & District (3,3,5,2)
4th Brisbane Boys’ College No. 2 (6,6,3,5)
5th New South Wales Highlanders (5,5,4,6)
6th Murrumba (4,4,6,8)
7th Brisbane (7,7,8,1)
8th Warwick Thistle (8,8,2,7)
9th Tamworth & District Highland Society (9,9,9,9)
Judges: S. Dalziel (piping), D. Gray (drumming), Sam Young (ensemble)

Novice Juvenile B
MSR
Brisbane Boys’ College No. 2

A correction was made on April 11, 2026: An earlier version of this article transposed the first- and second-place Grade 2 MSR result, which is now correct.