All Roads for Pipe Bands Lead to Maxville
When people think about the Glengarry Highland Games they think about pipe bands. The Games are famed for their pipe bands and of course, it’s the home of the prestigious North American Pipe Band Championships™. This year’s Games will be sure to please everyone who comes to Maxville on August 1 and 2 with fifty-three pipe bands gathered to play in the massed pipe bands. Of those bands, forty-five will be competing on Saturday for the Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 North American Championships. The Games are thrilled to welcome last year’s North American Pipe Band Champions, the 78th Fraser Highlanders from Milton, Ontario as well as US bands from New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Utah and past champions, the Dunedin Pipe Band from Florida. Canadian bands represent the provinces of Nova Scotia, British Columbia, PEI, Quebec and over twenty bands from Ontario including the Games’ own Glengarry Pipe Bands.
Both Friday and Saturday will provide lots of opportunities to enjoy even more piping and drumming competitions starting with the amateur solo events on Friday. The prestigious Piobaireachd Society Gold Medal competitions held in a church in downtown Maxville are always a popular attraction showcasing the art of classical piping. Friday is capped off with the massed bands at the spectacular Friday Night Tattoo, a evening of pageantry and music capped off with a dazzling display of fireworks.
The main event is on Saturday with the professional solo piping and drumming competitions, the tenor and bass drum contests and the pipe band competitions. The massed bands take to the field again at noon hour for the Official Ceremonies and then the full complement of fifty-three bands will perform at the Saturday evening closing where more than 1500 pipers and drummers will fill the infield with a sight and sound that will be remembered long after the last note has faded away.
Piping Starts Young in Glengarry
There is a long history of teaching piping and drumming in Glengarry County, with hundreds of teachers and students working together to foster the art over generations. The newly formed Glengarry Juvenile Pipe Band builds on that tradition. The band has approximately twenty members aged 18 and younger, and it will make its official debut at this year’s Glengarry Highland Games.
The purpose of the band is to provide a supportive, energetic environment where young pipers and drummers can learn with kids their own age. This model has been widely adopted in Scotland, where there are hundreds of juvenile pipe bands and teaching programs in schools and communities across the country. "We also wanted to increase the bond between the Glengarry School of Piping and Drumming and the Glengarry Pipe Band. In essence, we wanted to establish a dedicated place for these kids to practice, perform, and build lasting friendships", explains Jacob Dicker, who is head instructor for the piping school and the juvenile band.
Over the past year, there has been a lot of activity to support the development of juvenile pipe bands across Ontario. The Pipers’ and Pipe Band Society of Ontario, which oversees piping and drumming in the province, has altered the rules to make it easier for young players to be part of a juvenile band. Scott Currie, the head drumming instructor for the juvenile band explains, "We want to get these kids out with their buddies and make new friends. We want other kids to look at the juvenile band and think it looks like fun and that they would like to try and play the pipes or drums too.”
This year, the Glengarry Highland Games will be holding its first ever Juvenile Pipe Band contest. This contest will be featured on Saturday in pipe band competition circle 1 at 9:30 am. You can catch the Glengarry Juvenile Pipe Band competing against bands from Canada and the United States!
Want to join the Glengarry Juvenile Pipe Band? Contact them via glengarrypipeband.ca.
See you at the Games!