The world’s biggest piping festival Piping Live! will feature a street parade in the West End this summer.
The Piping Live! 2023 Big Band will be striking up at a mass participation event on Monday August 14.
150 pipers ranging from young learners playing their chanters to seasoned professionals with years of piping experience for a musical procession
The bespoke band will start at Mansfield Park in Partick at midday, parading down Dumbarton Road and Argyle Street before massing at the concourse outside Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
The route is a change from the usual procession due to the end-point at George Square being unavailable.
Welcome
The Piping Live! Big Band is open to anyone who plays a practice chanter, bagpipes, snare, bass or tenor drum, or is a drum major.
All ages are welcome, with past events welcoming people aged 8-86.
The event is part of Piping Live! 2023 that takes place from Saturday 12 to Sunday 20 August 2023.
The piping festival annually attracts over 30,000 attendees to Glasgow and this year celebrates two decades as a cornerstone event.
Leading the parade will be Piping Live! artistic director and the Director of Piping at the National Piping Centre, Finlay MacDonald, as well as some of the National Piping Centre’s world-renowned teaching team.
Finlay said: “We’re so excited to bring the Piping Live! Big Band to Glasgow’s West End this year.
“It’s always such a treat to see so many pipers and drummers of all ages and abilities come together to perform, filling the streets with music.
We’re raising money for a fantastic cause that’s close to some of our piper’s hearts so I’m very proud to be leading the band once again this year.
Finlay MacDonald
“We have musicians coming from far and wide, and it’s just wonderful to see everyone united by their love of Scottish music.
“We’re raising money for a fantastic cause that’s close to some of our piper’s hearts so I’m very proud to be leading the band once again this year.”
Bailie Annette Christie, Chair of Glasgow Life and Glasgow City Council Convenor for Culture, Sport and International Relations, said: “The Big Band parade is a real highlight of Piping Live! - both for all those taking part and everyone spectating.
“Seeing pipers of all ages and at every level coming together to play is always wonderful, but being able to watch them joining forces to march as one as they parade through the streets of our great city is extra special.
“The feel-good factor of this memorable occasion is increased too by knowing it is raising much-needed funds for a deserving charity.
“With Piping Live! and the World Pipe Band Championships – the pinnacle of the international piping competition calendar – both taking place in Glasgow in August, the city and Scotland definitely deserve the title of the global home of piping.”
Since its inception in 2016, the Piping Live! Big Band has worked in partnership with a chosen charity and this year the festival is delighted to be working with Versus Arthritis.
Everyone who registers to be part of the Big Band will make a donation as the majority of the entry fee is donated, aside from the cost to cover the very eye-catching event t-shirt.
Contribute
On the Piping Live! website there is also a link to donate specifically from this event if individuals would like to contribute more.
