Bands are all set to pipe up in Paisley

Paisley is preparing to welcome competitors from as far as Canada and Denmark as the top pipe bands in the world aim to be crowned British champions.

The British Pipe Band Championships take place on Saturday, May 20, and more than 4,000 pipers and drummers will descend on St James’ playing fields for the second year running.

Last year saw Inverary and District take home the Grade 1 prize.

They will face stiff competition from all over the world this year when bands from Canada, Ireland and Northern Ireland join Scotland’s finest in trying to take home the accolade of Britain’s best.

From 10am, 145 bands will take to the competition arena and look to impress the judges from the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association (RSPBA) in 11 different categories.

After the final band performs at around 5.30pm, the prizegiving will take place before all entries join the final march-past, which will close the competition.

The free event will also feature a food village, children’s entertainment zone, the Slug In A Bottle craft market and more.

The championships form part of a series of events taking place across Renfrewshire that are helping to support Paisley’s bid for UK City of Culture 2021.

Event parking will be at West College Scotland, Paisley Grammar School and Castlehead High School.

There will be no on-site parking at the St James’ Playing Fields for the public — this will be for pipe band coaches and event officials only.

Free shuttle buses will run directly to the event site throughout the day from West College Scotland and Paisley Gilmour Street station. Full details are at www. renfrewshire. gov. uk/ events

 The full running order for the day — showing all bands, grades and timings — is now available at www.rspba.org