Archive

Next to the World Pipe Band Championships, Saturday, July 30th, is probably the biggest date of the year, with the Scottish Pipe Band Championships and the North American Championships at Dumbarton, Scotland, and Maxville, Ontario, taking place. The Scottish Championships at Levingrove Park are the fourth of the five majors […]

Arisaig, Scotland – July 27, 2022 – Angus D. MacColl of Benderloch, Scotland, had the overall most successful day in the senior solo piping events at the Arisaig Highland Games held at Traigh Farm in the scenic village on Scotland’s west coast. Nine turned out for the competitions. MacColl took […]

The accomplished and well-loved piper Gordon MacRae died on July 25, 2022, at age 65 after a lengthy battle against cancer. Born in Kincardine, Ontario, on April 22, 1957, “Gord,” as he was always known to friends, was a member of the 78th Fraser Highlanders from the band’s inception, and […]

Fredericton, New Brunswick – July 23-24, 2022 – The two-day New Brunswick Highland Games persevered through parched conditions with temperatures measured at 41° Celsius on the field, with contestants performing before the scenic and historic Government House. There were no major heat related illnesses and the games provided a hydration […]

Sherwood Park, Alberta – July 23, 2022 – The second post-pandemic annual Sherwood Park Highland Gathering was held just outside of Edmonton. Weather was picture-perfect, with temperatures hovering around 25C with nearly cloudless skies. There were a total of 10 bands entered and a small solo turnout. North Stratton of Edmonton […]

Airth, Scotland – July 23, 2022 – Pipers from Scotland, Australia and the USA turned out for the Airth Highland Games, competing in the senior piping in overcast conditions with occasional showers. Lachie Dick of Glasgow had the best overall day with two light music firsts and a fourth in […]

Four years after the release of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Collection, voted both Music Collection of the Year in the 2018 New Year’s Honours and Music Collection of the Decade by pipes|drums panels of experts, Volume 2 in the series will be launched at Piping Live! at a special […]

Tobermory, Scotland – July 21, 2022 – Ben Duncan of Edinburgh and Angus D. MacColl enjoyed excellent results in excellent weather at the annual Tobermory Games on the Isle of Mull, and it was Duncan who gained the aggregate championship. Fifteen competed in the senior solo piping events. Young Logie […]

Organizers of the Nicol-Brown Amateur Invitational Solo Piping Competition have cancelled the 2022 edition of the event, electing to take a “gap year” as they prepare for a 2023 return. “A transition year for the travel industry and for Grade 1 piping events” was provided as the reasons for skipping […]

Helensburgh, Scotland – July 17, 2022 – The beautiful Victoria Halls were the setting for the Helensburgh Professional Solo Piping Competition where Gordon McCready of Renfrew, Scotland, enjoyed two firsts and a second, with Brian Lamond of Dunfermline, Scotland, winning the March. The event is run by Balloch & Roseneath […]

Many of the events from the 2022 Piping Live! Glasgow International Festival of Piping will be tickets live-stream events, bringing the world’s biggest Highland piping festival to a world audience. The organizers have taken things a step further by creating new “Fanzone” events – essentially watch-parties where audiences can gather […]

Inveraray, Scotland – July 19, 2022 – Three years have passed since the Inveraray Highland Games occurred, and the popular event for the UK’s top solo pipers came back strong in hot and mostly sunny conditions at the games park in the shadow of Inveraray Castle. In early results from […]

Donald MacPherson was one of the art’s greatest competitors and teachers, revolutionizing the standard of tuning stability in the 1950s, and the Piping Live! Glasgow International Festival of Piping will mark the one-hundredth anniversary of his birth at a special event on August 10th at the National Piping Centre. “Donald […]

The well-known western Canada piper Alan Walters died on July 12, 2022, in his sixty-ninth year in Surrey, British Columbia. A constant presence at piping and drumming events throughout Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, Walters was known more recently as a judge and teacher. Born in Calgary on July 8, […]

Cambridge, Ontario – July 16, 2022 – The Ontario outdoor season rolled on with the Cambridge Highland Games, held under sunny skies and temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius with bands and soloists seeking out any bit of shade they could find. The Grade 1 band event was not contested and […]

Antigonish, Nova Scotia – July 9-10, 2022 – After a two-year absence because of the scourge of the COIVID-19 mess, the historically important Antigonish Highland Games were held for the 157th time under crystalline clear skies and warm temperatures. Andrea Boyd of Ottawa was the winner of the Atlantic Canada […]