The annual Winnipeg Scottish Festival kicked off the prairie competition season with a good attendance of bands from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Macalester College pipe bands from St. Paul, Minnesota, which won both of the Grade 3 events in the top grade contests. The day included a special tribute to the recently passed P-M Robert Stankey, a long-time contributor to piping in Manitoba as a player, pipe-major and highly dedicated youth instructor with the Lord Selkirk Robert Fraser Memorial Pipe Band in Winnipeg.