The World Pipe Band Championships and Traditional Scottish Events is the centerpiece of Piping Live! --- The Glasgow International Piping Festival. Every year, usually on the second or third weekend in August, more than 8000 musicians and traditional Scottish performers, representing over 30 countries, converge on Glasgow and the surrounding areas for an entire week of live performances, workshops, seminars, competitions and exhibitions. Then, on the final weekend, the best Pipers, Drum Majors and Pipe Bands in the world assemble at Glasgow Green to determine which Band can truly be considered the best of the best: the Grade I World Bagpipe Band Champion.
Since 2013, the Worlds has been exclusively a weekend-long (Saturday and Sunday) event! This is the result o' the unprecedented record number of Pipers and Drummers who took part. Indeed, as ye might expect, the spectators on hand that weekend were awed, as Northern Ireland's legendary Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band marched off with a record-destroying ninth Grade One Championship title! Field Marshal Montgomery has since gone on to claim the Grade One World Championship 17 times to date, in a history that dates as far back as 1945.
In all, the 2019 Worlds involved 195 Pipe Bands, representing these 13 nations: Scotland, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, the United States, Canada, Belgium, Spain, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and Malaysia!
Glasgow Green is the city's oldest public park, with origins dating back to the 15th Century. For the most part, and particularly due to time constraints, the BBC's coverage, on television, radio and the Internet, is focused solely on Grade One. To win in this particular Grade, you must do two events. The first is the March, Strathspey and Reel "set", which consists of three pre-arranged tunes; the second is the Medley, which is a short selection of pieces of the Bandsmen's own choosing.
There are eight other Grades to be considered at the Worlds. They are: Grades Two, 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, Juvenile, Novice Juvenile A and Novice Juvenile B. In the case of the last three, participants must be under age 18, except for a single 'adult' player (typically, the Band Instructor), who serves as the group's Pipe Major or Pipe Sergeant. The remaining categories are judged based largely on proficiency. Again, owing to time constraints, each performance has to be limited to a certain amount of time, in accordance with Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association by-laws.
Final standings for the 2019 World Pipe Band Championships are now available at http://www.theworlds.co.uk!