Piping Live! 2025 breaks attendance records

According to organizers, the 2025 Piping Live! Glasgow International Piping Festival attracted more than 30,000 Celtic music-lovers in Scotland’s biggest city, shattering previous records.

Hinging or dependent on the participation of more than 200 pipe bands in the World Championships, about half of which are from outside of Scotland, Piping Live!’s week of performances, competition and festivities has become one of Scotland’s most significant music events.

This year, the festival took a leap of faith that enthusiasts would pay more to attend many of the events and enjoy many for free. A new multi-stage design outside the National Piping Centre’s McPhater Street premises proved just as, or even more, popular than the previous single-stage Street Café.

Around 50 volunteers worked the eight-day festival, in addition to professional security services. To attract the general public to quality piping and drumming, more performances were added to venues like the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum and Buchanan Street.

“There aren’t enough words to describe this year’s Piping Live!, so I’ll start with just one – thank you.” — Finlay MacDonald, artistic director of Piping Live!

“There aren’t enough words to describe this year’s Piping Live!, so I’ll start with just one – thank you,” Finlay MacDonald, artistic director of Piping Live! said. “A huge thanks to each person who made it such a successful year – from the hugely talented performers who travelled far and wide to be here, our dedicated organizers and volunteers, our funders and sponsors, and everyone who attended any of our events – we are beyond grateful to everyone for the support.”

Although not officially part of Piping Live! the event takes full advantage of the World Pipe Band Championships, and vice versa. The festival started as “Piping Hot” in 2003, realizing a ready-made audience was ready to be entertained during the week before the World’s.

Arts events in the UK have experienced increased financial pressure post-pandemic, with funding cuts across Scotland. There was a noticeable increase in requests for donations by both Piping Live! and the World Championships, in particular to support the Friday and Saturday live streams of the Grade 1 competitions.

While Piping Live! compensates most non-competition performers for their work, thus sharing proceeds with the musicians who are the backbone of the festival, there is no financial support for the hundreds of pipe bands that compete at the World Championships. Bands from outside the UK and Ireland spend more than $150,000 on their trip to Glasgow. First prize for the 2024 Grade 1 World Champion was reportedly £1,500.