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Experience the heart of Scottish culture as world-class pipe bands fill the air with the unmistakable sounds of bagpipes and drums.

The most common form of pipe band, the Scottish pipe band, consists of a section of pipers, a section of side drummers known as a drum corps, several tenor drummers and a single bass drummer. The tenor drummers and bass drummer are often referred to collectively as the midsection.

Standard instrumentation for a pipe band is from 6 to 25 pipers, 3 to 10 side drummers, 1 to 4 tenor drummers and 1 bass drummer. Occasionally this instrumentation is augmented to include additional instruments (such as additional percussion instruments or keyboard instruments), however this is typically done only in concert settings.

Since 1930, when the Scottish Pipe Band Association (Now the Royal SPBA) was formed, there has been an event known as the World Pipe Band Championships held in Glasgow every August. For competitive bands, the title of World Champion is highly coveted, and this event is seen as the culmination of a year’s worth of preparation, rehearsal and practice. Until 1987, when the Canadian 78th Fraser Highlanders band was awarded the Grade One title, every band that had won had been Scottish. In recent years however, this has changed and several non-Scottish bands have had success, most notably the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band, and the Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band of Ireland.

In the world of competitive piping, there are four levels. Starting at Grade 4 (or grade 5 in some places), bands can rise through the ranks to the highest grade 1. In BC, there are many bands from Grade 4 to 1. All these bands compete at various highland games (including ScotFestBC) and several indoor band and solo competitions throughout the year. In 1995, the SFU Pipe Band won the world pipe band championships in Scotland, the first of five victories.

Bob Worrall

Adjudicator

Bob Worrall is one of North America’s leading teachers, adjudicators and performers. Bob is a respected composer, having published three successful collections of bagpipe music. He is featured on three solo piping recordings and was a member of the folk group “Scantily Plaid”.

After a piping career with a number of Ontario’s leading pipe bands, including the City of Toronto Pipe Band and the General Motors Pipe Band, Bob retired from competitive piping in 1983.  His solo accomplishments were extensive, both in North America and Scotland.  He won the North American Professional Championship an unprecedented 7  times and the Ontario Professional Championship Supreme title for 12 of his 13 years in the professional class.  He was also the 1977 winner of the March and Strathspey/Reel events in Inverness.  He was a pupil of Bill Millar, Willie Connell and the late John Wilson.

A member of  North American and the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association’s judging panels, Bob has been selected to judge the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow on seventeen occasions.  For the last 19 years he has been the colour commentator for the BBC’s broadcast of the World Pipe Band Championships.  He is a member of the Piobaireachd Society’s Senior Judges list and has adjudicated   major competitions throughout the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Brittany and South Africa.   Bob’s recent overseas piping ventures have included teaching and performing engagements  in Zimbabwe, Australia and Italy. His M.C. skills have been called upon by the Field Marshal Montgomery, Simon Fraser University, Scottish Power, Inveraray and District, Toronto Police Pipe Bands, and most recently, the annual Winter Storm concert.

Bob was the senior instructor at the Gaelic College in Cape Breton for 15 years. Other recent piping camps have included Kingston (Ontario), the Ohio Scottish Arts School, Lake Diefenbaker   (Saskatchewan), Washington State and Oregon, Vancouver Island, Uruguay, Australia and South Africa.  Weekend workshops, adjudicating and recitals provide him with a schedule that has taken him to virtually all of the Canadian provinces and 36 U.S. States.

The British Columbia Pipers’ Association administers the solo piping, drumming, and pipe band events. Registration for all ScotFestBC 2025 events opens in April 2025.

Open Piobaireachd Friday, June 20 5:00 pm
Solo Piping and Drumming: Saturday June 21 9:00 am
Pipe Band competitions: Saturday, June 21 1:30 pm – 5:00 pm

Competitors visit the BCPA website for the Order of Play. Results of competitions are available here.

You Be The Judge…

Whether adjudicating a solo player or pipe band contest, the decision of a judge is dependent upon a number of variables beginning with the playing level of the competitor. A beginner, for example, is not held to the same standards as a professional. Beginners play in a grade 5 band. As players gain more experience and perform with higher skill level, they progress upward through grades 4, 3, 2, with grade 1 being the highest. Solo competitors can play in the professional class after grade 1.

The primary elements judges use to consider their prizes are:

  • EXECUTION the technical aspects of playing an instrument with controlled sound.
  • MUSICAL EXPRESSION the ability to properly phrase tunes at tempos that contribute to its overall musicality. As players proceed up the grades they are expected to combine execution and expression into more competent performances which show an increase in control, mastery of the rudiments, and more expressiveness.
  • TONE & TUNING the overall sound of the instruments. Proper tuning and blending of the chanter and drones contributes to tone. Tuning should be done so that no wavering sound is detected as the instrument is played. (Wavering is a sure sign that the drones are out of tune with the chanter). Side drums should always have a crisp sound, but when it comes to bagpipes, judges may have preferences for a particular tone. The judge listens in order to ascertain whether the tone is consistent throughout the performance and pleasing to the ear.
  • ENSEMBLE pertains to band competitions. The ensemble judge listens to the ‘fit’ of the drum score to the pipe music, the balance of volumes from side, tenor, and bass drums with the pipes, and the overall effect of ‘one great instrument’, rather than a collection of individual instruments.