World Pipe Band event attracts 200 competitors

More than 200 bands from 13 countries are taking part in this year’s World Pipe Band Championships.

The event, know as “the worlds”, returns to Glasgow today and tomorrow. In total, around 8,000 pipers and drummers in 214 bands are competing for the ultimate prize in the two-day competition on Glasgow Green. More than a quarter of the competitors are coming from overseas, with New Zealand, Denmark, Canada, Oman and Zimbabwe among the nations represented, organisers said.

Ian Embelton, chief executive of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association, said: “Year after year, pipe bands across the world head to Glasgow and the World Pipe Band Championships to compete and test themselves against their peers.

“The competition this year is the fiercest it has ever been with the standards across each grade higher than ever.”