Piping Live!
Piping Live!, Glasgow's International Piping Festival, will return for its 21st edition this summer with an eclectic calendar of events from Saturday 10th - Sunday 18th August!
About Piping Live!
The world’s biggest piping festival, Piping Live! attracts over 30,000 attendees to Glasgow each year, with an eclectic programme of events for pipers and music lovers alike to be held at venues across the city.
Run by the National Piping Centre and now in its 21st year, the festival will have lively concerts, captivating recitals, hard-fought competitions, engaging workshops and energetic sessions involving 700 musicians on the musical menu across its nine days, including a swathe of free and ticketed events.
The spectacular sonic week will get formally underway on Monday 12th August with the iconic Piping Live! Big Band welcoming pipers and drummers of all ages and abilities to join the festival’s mass participation event, filling the city centre streets with music as they march from Mansfield Park in Partick to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
That evening, Sauchiehall Street venue Nice N Sleazy will host Ceol Nua, Piping Live!’s progressive avant garde piping night, showcasing boundary pushing performances in the heart of the city and featuring The Sólàs Collective and Bede Patterson.
Buchanan Street will be awash with the sound of pipes from Monday 12th - Thursday 15th August, with free, open air performances by pipe bands from across the globe taking place each day. Including sets from the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Pipes and Drums, the City of Angels Pipe Band from LA, and Old Scotch Pipes and Drums from Australia, these performances offer a fantastic chance to experience world-class piping in the bustling heart of the city centre.
In Glasgow’s West End, the iconic Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum will host a recital by an amazing international artist each day of the festival at 2pm, showcasing bagpiping traditions from around the world in the breathtaking Centre Hall.
On Tuesday 13th August, the International Quartet Competition, sponsored by R.T Shepherd and Son, will see top pipe bands send four of their best pipers to compete for the esteemed title at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall’s Strathclyde Suite. Meanwhile over in Edinburgh, the Scots Guards Club will host a night of International Piping with the Eagle Pipers Society.
The Gordon Duncan Memorial Piping Competition will move into a new midweek slot for 2024, taking place at The National Piping Centre Auditorium in the afternoon of Wednesday 14th August. Supported by the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust, the prestigious competition sees four pipers compete by playing Scottish, Irish and Breton music in celebration of the life of piping legend Gordon Duncan.
The Pipe Major Alasdair Gillies Memorial Recital Challenge returns on Thursday 15th August, when five top pipers each perform a recital of their favourite tunes. Going head to head at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall’s Strathclyde Suite will be Callum Beaumont, Alex Gandy, Matt MacIsaac, Angus MacColl and 2023 champion Stuart Liddell.
Iconic folk fusion band Croft No. Five will get the weekend started in spectacular style on Friday 16th August when they perform a specially created set with celebrated piper Ailis Sutherland. John Mulhearn’s The Pipe Factory will open the night with a performance that will explore the sonic possibilities of the pipes. This unique night of entertainment will take place at Saint Luke’s – a new venue for the festival this year.
The popular Street Cafe returns for 2024, running from midday each day at the National Piping Centre, McPhater Street with an array of emerging talent, international styles of bagpipes, live podcasts, pipe band practices and showcases, all free to attend.
The week will come to a fitting crescendo with The World Pipe Band Championships at the iconic Glasgow Green on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th August.
This year’s ‘Worlds’ promises another fiercely-fought competition involving the very best pipe bands on the planet.
Piping Live! 2024 takes place from Saturday 10th - Sunday 18th August. Tickets and more information is available at www.pipinglive.co.uk
Where possible we will update our listings to notify of cancelled, postponed and rescheduled events, however we STRONGLY ADVISE that you check with the venue/organiser in the first instance for updates.
All information (whether in text or photographs) is supplied in good faith but should not be relied upon as being a statement of representation or fact.GOT AN EVENT TO SHARE? It's free to post your events on What's On Glasgow, click here to find out more!
Want to be the first to hear about what's happening in Glasgow? Just hit 'Like' on our Facebook page, join the What's On Scotland Facebook Group and 'Follow' on our Twitter account and you're all set!Sponsored Links
Similar events you might like...
St Bride’s Organ Recitals
St Brides beautiful William Hill organ, nearly 160 years old, has been restored to its former glory! Join them for a monthly recital from a selection of experienced and talented organists.
READ MORE
Taylormania
Katy Ellis a self obsessed 'Swiftie' with an incredible live band and dancers promises to deliver the most authentic recreation of a Taylor Swift show you will ever see at The Pavilion Theatre!
READ MORE
Trad Thursdays at Sleazys
Brought to you by Falasgair their resident Trad band, come along to Nice N Sleazy every Thursday for knee slapping traditional Scottish music!
READ MORE
One Night In Tennessee
Inspired by the open mic nights of Bourbon Street, Old Bohemia and their talented friends take to the stage and cover your favourite country classics at Maggie's Rock N Rodeo!
READ MORE
Maggies Rock N Rodeo Cowboy Ceilidh
Get ready to go buck wild at Maggies Rock N Rodeo's sellout Cowboy Ceilidh - the wildest country party this side of Texas!
READ MORE
Sloans Ceilidh
Sloans Famous Friday Ceilidh is back and it's bigger and better than ever... it's a must for everyone visiting Glasgow and any true weegie!
READ MORE
The Bobby Deans Big Band
Join The Bobby Deans Big Band on Sunday afternoons at the Paloma Lounge for some great live big band sounds!
READ MORE
Music Bus - Family Sunday Sessions
Music Bus Glasgow South are bringing their Sunday Sessions, designed with busy families in mind, to The Glad Cafe on selected dates through the year!
READ MORE
Divas Through The Decades Tribute Night
Whether you strut like Tina Turner, can high kick like the Spice Girls or want belt out your inner Whitney Houston, Arta's Divas Through The Decades Tribute Night is sure to get you dancing!
READ MORESponsored Links
Find other events in Glasgow
Sponsored Links