Inveraray & District: 2025 World Champions; Inveraray also wins the drumming; Grade 2 goes to Glasgow Skye
Glasgow – August 15-16, 2025 – After two days of exhausting competition, Inveraray & District won the 2025 World Pipe Band Championship at Glasgow Green, successfully defending their titles. The events were held in exceptional weather that helped attract the largest crowds seen since before the pandemic.
Inveraray won all four events, receiving nine firsts from the 16 judges. It was the fourth World Championship title in the 15 years since promotion Grade 1. Inveraray & District is marking only its twentieth year since the band was founded as a Novice Juvenile group in 2005.
The band’s Saturday medley included a homage to Argyllshire piping legend Jock McLellan, whose birth was 150 years ago. Pipe-Major Stuart Liddell was visibly emotional during the performance.
Scotland’s Glasgow Skye Association won Grade 2, and Uddingston, also from Scotland, won the drumming. The overall prize list in the grade determined by Medley and MSR results was another first for the competition.
Four non-UK bands featured in the Grade 2 prize list, with the United States’ City of Dunedin and Ulster Scottish making a strong bid to move to Grade 1, along with Glasgow Skye and Uddingston.
The 2025 UK competition season marked a year of considerable change for several of the top bands. Field Marshal Montgomery brought in three new leaders, Pipe-Major Matt Wilson, Leading-Drummer Willie Glenholmes, and Pipe-Sergeant Ben Duncan; Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia brought in Pipe-Major Calum Watson; and Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia welcomed Leading-Drummer David Henderson. Despite the challenge, none of the bands seemed to miss a beat.
Both days ran with the RSPBA’s familiar clockwork precision, with only the Saturday Grade 1 Medley being behind by about four minutes at the halfway point. RSPBA Chief Executive apologized profusely for announcing the incorrect winner of the Juvenile Drum-Major competition.
The Grade 1 events on both days were streamed live for free. BBC Scotland cut the feed immediately after the last result was announced, with no images of celebrations and march-offs. The RSPBA’s website appeared to go offline for at least an hour after the results were announced.
Despite the large crowds, many seats were unfilled in the arena on both days, including the Grade 1 Medley on Saturday. A ticket for a reserved seat in the arena on Saturday was £42 / $79 in advance or £46.50 / $87 on the day.
Pints were going down for a cool £6.50 ($12.20) each at the packed beer tents before competitors, for the first time in the World’s history, made their way to a massed band, or what was called a “March Forward. ” This replaced the traditional two-hours-plus march-past and significantly shortened the awards ceremony. The March Forward began around 6:15, and the prizegiving ceremony ended at approximately 7:30.
Grade 1 (14 competed)
Overall
1st Inveraray & District
2nd Field Marshal Montgomery (Northern Ireland)
3rd Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia (Scotland)
4th Simon Fraser University (Canada)
5th Police Scotland Fife (Scotland)
6th Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (Scotland)
7th St. Laurence O’Toole (Ireland)
8th ScottishPower (Scotland)
9th Manawatu Scottish (New Zealand)
10th Ravara (Northern Ireland)
11th 78th Fraser Higlanders (Canada)
12th St. Thomas Alumni (USA)
13th Johnstone (Scotland)
14th Closkelt (Northern Ireland
Drumming overall: Inveraray & District
MSR drumming overall: Inveraray & District
Medley drumming overall: Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia
Friday
Medley
1st Inveraray & District (1,1,5,1)
2nd Simon Fraser University (2,2,3,2)
3rd St. Laurence O’Toole (3,3,1,4)
4th Field Marshal Montgomery (5,5,2,6)
5th Police Fife Scotland (6,4,7,3)
6th Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (7,7,4,5)
7th Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia (4,6,9,8)
8th ScottishPower (8,8,6,7)
9th Manawatu Scottish (9,9,8,9)
10th St. Thomas Alumni (10,10,13,10)
11th Ravara (12,11,10,13)
12th 78th Fraser Highlanders (11,12,14,11)
13th Johnstone (14,13,11,12)
14th Closkelt (13,14,12,14)
Judges: Don Bradford, Peter Hunt (piping); Stuart Coils (drumming); Tom Brown (ensemble)
MSR
1st Inveraray & District (1,1,1,3)
2nd Field Marshal Montgomery (2,3,2,1)
3rd Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia (3,2,8,2)
4th Police Scotland Fife (4,4,4,4)
5th Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (6,6,3,6)
6th St. Laurence O’Toole (5,5,5,7)
7th Simon Fraser University (8,7,6,5)
8th ScottishPower (7,8,7,8)
9th Manawatu Scottish (9,9,10,9)
10th St. Thomas Alumni (10,10,9,11)
11th Ravara (11,11,11,10)
12th 78th Fraser Highlanders (14,12,12,13)
13th Johnstone (12,13,13,14)
14th Closkelt (13,14,14,12)
Judges: John Reville, Jim Semple (piping); Keith Orr (drumming); Paul Turner (ensemble)
Saturday
Medley
1st Inveraray & District (2,3,2,1)
2nd Field Marshal Montgomery (1,1,4,3)
3rd Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (4,4,1,2)
4th Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia (3,2,3,5)
5th Simon Fraser University (5,5,9,4)
6th Police Scotland Fife (7,6,5,6)
7th St Laurence O’Toole (6,7,7,7)
8th ScottishPower (8,10,6,8)
9th Manawatu Scottish (10,9,8,9)
10th 78th Fraser Highlanders (9,8,11,10)
11th Ravara (11,11,10,14)
12th St. Thomas Alumni (12,13,12,11)
13th Closkelt (13,14,13,12)
14th Johnstone (14,12,14,13)
Judges: David Middleton, Brian Switalla (piping); Lee Innes (drumming); Ross Walker (ensemble)
MSR
1st Inveraray & District (1,2,2,1)
2nd Police Scotland Fife (2,7,1,3)
3rd Simon Fraser University (4,1,6,4)
4th Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia (5,3,7,2)
5th Field Marshal Montgomery (7,5,3,5)
6th Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (6,4,4,7)
7th ScottishPower (3,6,8,6)
8th St. Laurence O’Toole (8,8,5,8)
9th Johnstone (9,10,12,9) (ens.pref.)
10th Manawatu Scottish (10,9,10,11)
11th Ravara (11,13,11,10)
12th 78th Fraser Highlanders (14,11,9,12)
13th Closkelt (13,12,14,13)
14th St. Thomas Alumni (12,14,13,14)
Judges: Tony Sloane, Jim Campbell (piping); Gordon Parkes (drumming); Maurice Rhodes (ensemble)
Champion of Champions: Inveraray & District
Champion of Champions Drumming: Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia
Grade 2 (21 competed)
Overall
1st Glasgow Skye Association (Scotland)
2nd City of Dunedin (USA)
3rd Ulster Scottish (USA)
4th North Stratton (Canada)
5th Uddingston (Scotland)
6th Bagad Breig (Brittany) (ens.pref.)
7th Cascadia (USA)
8th Royal Burgh of Annan (Scotland)
9th Mannorcunningham (Ireland)
10th Los Angeles Scots (USA)
11th Peel Regional Police (Canada)
12th Buchan Pteterson (Scotland)
13th Grampian Police Scotland
14th Vale of Atholl (Scotland)
15th Oban (Scotland)
16th Coalburn IOR (Scotland)
17th Denny & Dunipace (Scotland)
18th Tullylagan (Northern Ireland)
19th City of Edinburgh (Scotland)
20th St. Joseph’s (Ireland)
21st Bucksburn & District (Scotland)
Drumming: Uddingston
Medley
1st Glasgow Skye Association (1,1,1,3)
2nd North Stratton (6,2,2,2)
3rd City of Dunedin (3,3,7,6)
4th Royal Burgh of Annan (2,7,4,7)
5th Uddingston (4,6,3,9)
6th Ulster Scottish (5,5,8,8)
7th Bagad Brieg (10,12,10,1)
8th Cascadia (7,4,19,4)
9th Buchan Peterson (11,10,6,14)
10th Los Angeles Scots (8,14,5,15)
11th Manorcunningham (13,11,15,5)
12th Grampian Police Scotland (12,13,17,10)
13th Denny & Dunipace (15,18,13,11)
14th Vale of Atholl (14,16,9,19) (ens.pref.)
15th Oban (9,8,21,20)
16th Peel Regional Police (18,15,14,12) (ens.pref.)
17th Coalburn IOR (16,9,18,16)
18th Tullylagan (20,20,12,13)
19th City of Edinburgh (19,19,11,17)
20th Bucksburn & District (17,17,20,21)
21st St Joseph’s 21,21,16,18)
Judges: Barry Donaldson, Peter Hunt (piping); Jim Baxter (drumming); Colin Moffett (ensemble)
MSR
1st Ulster Scottish (1,3,2,2)
2nd City of Dunedin (3,1,5,1)
3rd Glasgow Skye Association (2,2,4,4)
4th North Stratton (6,4,6,7)
5th Cascadia (4,6,11,3)
6th Bagad Brieg (5,8,7,5)
7th Peel Regional Police (7,5,10,6) (ens.pref.)
8th Uddingston (10,9,1,8)
9th Manorcunningham (8,7,9,14)
10th Royal Burgh of Annan (11,11,8,9)
11th Los Angeles Scots (9,10,12,11)
12th Buchan Peterson (17,17,3,13)
13th Grampian Police Scotland (12,14,19,12)
14th Vale of Atholl (14,13,15,18)
15th Tullylagan 19,18,13,15) (ens.pref.)
16th St. Joseph’s (18,16,14,17)
17th City of Edinburgh (20,20,16,10) (ens.pref.)
18th Oban (15,15,17,19) (ens.pref.)
19th Coalburn IOR (13,12,21,20)
20th Denny & Dunipace (16,19,18,16)
21st Bucksburn & District (21,21,20,21)
Judges: Cameron Edgar, John Reville (piping); Brian Martin (drumming); John Moles (ensemble)
Champion of Champions: Glasgow Skye Association
Champion of Champions Drumming: Uddingston
Grade 3A (30 total competed, divided into two MSR heats, 12 in Medley final)
Final
1st Bagad Roñsed Mor (Brittany) (1,1,7,1)
2nd Dunbar Royal British Legion (Scotland) (4,4,4,4)
3rd Burntisland & District (Scotland) (2,7,1,8)
4th Major Sinclair Memorial (Northern Ireland) (10,2,2,7)
5th City of London (England) (3,5,10,5)
6th Methil & District (Scotland) (8,6,8,3) (ens.pref.)
7th Canterbury Caledonian Society (New Zealand) (6,3,5,11)
8th TEXO Deeside Caledonia (Scotland) (9,8,9,2) (ens.pref.)
9th McNeillstown (Northern Ireland) (7,9,3,9)
10th City of Discovery (Scotland) (5,10,11,6)
11th Macanta (England) (11,11,6,10)
12th Johnstone (Scotland) (12,12,12,12)
Drumming: Burntisland & District
Judges: Robert Shaw, Shaunna Hilder (piping); Arthur Cook (drumming); Gordon Lawrie (ensemble)
Champion of Champions: TEXO Deeside Caledonia (Scotland)
Champion of Champions Drumming: Burntisland & District
Grade 3B (24 total competed, divided into two MSR heats, 12 in Medley final)
Final
1st Elgin & District (Scotland)
2nd Syerla & District (Northern Ireland)
3rd Drumlough (Northern Ireland
4th Scottish Borders (Scotland) (ens.pref.)
5th Carnegie Mellon (USA)
6th Kilbarchan (Scotland)
Drumming: Syerla & District
Judges: Jim Semple, Ronnie McShannon (piping); Paul Turner (drumming); Robert Mathieson (ensemble)
Champion of Champions: Elgin & District
Champion of Champions Drumming: Scottish Borders
Grade 4A (24 competed, divided into two Prescribed MSR heats, 12 in Prescribed MSR final)
Final
1st Black Raven (Ireland)
2nd New Ross & District (Ireland) (ens.pref.)
3rd Altnaveigh Memorial (Northern Ireland) (ens.pref.)
4th Williamwood (Scotland)
5th Thiepval Memorial (Ireland)
6th Govan Community (Scotland)
Drumming: Black Raven (Ireland)
Judges: David Hilder, Grant Walker (piping); Keith Orr (drumming); Tom Brown (ensemble)
Champion of Champions: Vale of Atholl (Scotland)
Champion of Champions Drumming: Vale of Atholl
Grade 4B (45 competed, divided into two Prescribed Marches heats, 12 in Prescribed Marches final)
Final
1st Carrigaline (Ireland)
2nd Letterkenny & District (Ireland)
3rd Queen Elizabeth (Northern Ireland)
4th Youghal (Ireland)
5th City of Discovery (Scotland)
6th City of Plymouth (England)
Drumming: Carrigaline
Judges: Cameron Edgar, John Reville (piping); Brian Martin (drumming); John Moles (ensemble)
Champion of Champions: Barrhead & District (Scotland)
Champion of Champions Drumming: Paisley & District RBL (Scotland)
In another departure from tradition, all juvenile grades were run on Friday, which was branded a “Youth Championship Day.”
Friday, August 15th
Juvenile (MSR)
1st George Watson’s College (1,2,1,1)
2nd Dollar Academy (Scotland) (2,1,2,2)
3rd George Heriot’s School (Scotland) (3,3,3,5)
4th Preston Lodge High School (Scotland) (4,4,5,3)
5th Renfrewshire Schools (Scotland) (5,5,4,4)
Judges: Don Bradford, Peter Hunt (piping); Stuart Coils (drumming); Tom Brown (ensemble)
Novice Juvenile A (Prescribed MSR)
1st West Lothian Schools (Scotland) (1,1,7,2)
2nd Lochgelly High School (Scotland) (9,3,4,1)
3rd George Watson’s College (Scotland) (6,5,1,6)
4th Brisbane Boys’ College (Australia) (3,2,9,5)
5th High School of Dundee (Scotland) (2,4,13,4)
6th Scots College, Sydney (Australia) (5,14,3,3)
7th Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (Scotland) (4,6,6,11)
8th Dollar Academy (Scotland) (8,8,5,7)
9th St. Columba’s School (Scotland) (7,7,8,9)
10th North Lanarkshire Schools (Scotland) (10,11,11,8)
11th George Heriot’s School (Scotland) (12,9,10,10)
12 St. John’s College (Zimbabwe) (14,13,2,14)
13th Oban High School (Scotland) (11,10,14,13)
14th Preston Lodge High School (Scotland) (13,12,12,12)
Judges: Robert Mathieson, Jennifer Hutcheon (piping); David Brown (drumming); Paul Brown (ensemble)
Novice Juvenile B (Prescribed Marches)
1st St. John’s College Harare (Zimbabwe) (1,1,7,2)
2nd Scotch College #2 (Australia) (3,2,6,6) (ens.pref.)
3rd Scots College Sydney (Australia) (2,3,3,9)
4th Lochgelly High School Junior (Scotland) (4,5,12,1) (ens.pref.)
5th Oban High School (Scotland) (8,7,2,5) (ens.pref.)
6th Dollar Academy (Scotland) (6,4,5,7)
7th Bucksburn & District (Scotland) (7,9,8,3) (ens.pref.)
8th Falkirk Schools (Scotland) (5,8,10,4)
9th High School of Glasgow (Scotland) (9,6,9,10)
10th Burntisland & District (Scotland) (12,11,4,8) (ens.pref.)
11th Glasgow Academy (Scotland) (11,12,1,11)
12th Kintyre Schools (Scotland) (10,10,11,12)
Judges: Don Bradford, Peter Hunt (piping); Stuart Coils (drumming); Tom Brown (ensemble)
Hey, if you’ve enjoyed pipes|drums’ coverage of the World Championships and Piping Live!, please consider subscribing to our nonprofit publication. If you already subscribe, thank you!
The whole thing takes money to run, and it won’t happen without the support of our readers/viewers and advertisers. Thanks again.
NO COMMENTS YET