The World Pipe Band Championship has been named ‘Outdoor Event of the Year’ at the Scottish Music Awards, held last Saturday in Glasgow.
Receiving the award on behalf of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association were Chief Executive Ian Embelton, Chairman John Hughes and Chief Steward Alex Dalziel. They are pictured above.
The prestigious award was presented before hundreds of guests at the city’s Scottish Exhibition Centre.
Lomond and Clyde Pipe Band under new pipe major Don Bradford performed to rapturous applause immediately after the award was presented.
Mr Embelton said: ‘This really was quite a night and a great honour for the Association.
‘We were joined in our celebration by Mr Graham Mitchell, Executive Producer for the BBC’s Worlds output.
‘As everyone knows the BBC play a big part in the worldwide promotion of the Championships and deserve credit for the award too.
‘This was the first time we have ever received such a recognition and it is a credit to all the bands and affiliated associations who support us and the volunteers who work so hard to make the Worlds what it is.
‘We continue to try to develop the event in partnership with our sponsors Glasgow Life and I would like to thank them too for their continued support and involvement.’
Chairman John Hughes added: ‘We were delighted to receive the award on Saturday, and it is testament to the commitment of our HQ Staff and RSPBA Officials in conjunction with the event team at Glasgow Life, and our colleagues at BBC Scotland.
‘This event takes hundreds if not thousands of hours of preparation to ensure it runs as smoothly as it does.
‘This is the first time the Association has had the honour of being awarded such a prestigious award, and the pipe band world should be rightfully proud, as it belongs to all who had some involvement in the event, and that includes our bands, drum majors, and Highland dancers.
‘Without their involvement the Worlds could not achieve the recognition it has been awarded.’
Every year the Worlds attracts circa 40,000 people to Glasgow Green for the high point in the pipe band calendar. Over 200 bands regularly compete at the showpiece event.
The Championships bring in an estimated £10m into the Scottish economy each August with hotels, restaurants, transport companies all benefiting from the popularity of the competition.
Saturday’s event was the 20th year of the Scottish Music Awards. The glittering, star-studded event, brought 800 music industry insiders and guests together for a night of live performances all hosted by Sanjeev Kohli, aka ‘Navid’ from the television comedy show ‘Still Game’.
The awards ceremony is the main fundraising event for music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins Scotland. The charity currently has music therapists working with 1,000 people across the country in schools, hospitals, day, residential centres and hospices.
As a special anniversary addition, the event included the inception into the Scottish Music Hall of Fame of singers Annie Lennox and Susan Boyle.
As well as Lomond and Clyde, guests were entertained by an array of artists including guitarist Mark Knopfler, Snow Patrol, Susan Boyle and Amy Macdonald
The awards have grown over the years and for 2018 the ceremony was moved from Glasgow Old Fruitmarket to the more spacious SEC.
• The 2019 Worlds will be held at Glasgow Green on August 16 and 17. The Association is currently exploring ways of expanding the competition on the Friday by holding all Juvenile and Novice Juvenile events on that day. Read more here.
