I was at the UK pipe band championships in Belfast on 13th June, 2026, where the music was enjoyed by a large crowd. Other arrangements were not so good.
The competition was held at the Grove Playing Fields, a very large park with no public vehicle access and very limited access to buses and cars from the surrounding roads.
The roads were restricted to basically one-way traffic with ‘only stop at the park gates’ allowed for off-loading and loading of equipment, meaning a drive to your allocated car/bus park some distance away then a shuttle bus or a walk.
By Our Special Correspondent
Admission tickets were to be purchased in advance online or on the day at the main pedestrian entrance ticket booth. It turned out we didn’t need them anyway, they were just glanced at quickly and were not scanned. I should have photocopied 500 of my own and sold them for £2 each.
I also got my hand stamped but no need either. Lots of others I spoke to in the park did not have any ticket and simply walked in without being checked at all.
Programmes were not available to purchase until about 10 minutes before the first band was due to play, apparently the officials were still at breakfast in their hotel!
Arena 1 was directly in front of the main stand (seated). This was good. However, the trophies were all on display in a black tent beside the main stand, so no one could see them, not even during the finale and prizegiving.
When it came to the finale, the last band played at 16:20 and the finale did not start till 17.45….. not because of being held up by bands but due to the officials’ decision.
The finale was the new ‘massed bands’ style, so all the bands gathered randomly at the far side of park and then marched forward playing When the Battle’s O’er.
Then there was the ‘Salute to the Chieftain’, Highland Laddie. The Chieftain was in the black tent so none of the public could see him and no band actually marched past him to salute.
There was then a brief undignified moment of silence to reflect on members who had passed away during the year, but only about 15 seconds was observed. This was done without any command to bring the parade to attention, nor was there any playing of a lament.
I actually saw the Chieftain arrive at the park at about 17:35. As stated earlier, by this time all the bands had played and people were waiting for the finale to start.
What is the point in having a Chieftain who comes to an event at the very last minute when everything is over? He would not have seen any of the bands competing earlier in the day, nor any of the other activities.
Prizes were then distributed starting at approximately 6pm which gave us a better finish time compared to other Majors.
- Were you at Grove Playing Fields last Saturday? Do you agree with the writer? Let’s have your comments below.
UK Finale – Bands on Parade
Was there actually a parade of bands in the Finale..???
Congratulations to Cullybackey on winning the “best band on parade”
I didn’t see any parade of bands…??
In the stand the man in charge was still taking money at the beginning of the finale until one of the judges told him not to; some paid and some didn’t; wouldn’t even let band people on just to watch; a band location; perfect staff; run poorly.
Well the weather was good, so that was a bonus, as a local resident I went over for a while after lunch and we enjoyed our time watching the goings on, of course we didn’t know quite what was going on but we enjoyed it all the same… and the weather held, so you can’t say fairer than that
I was there too. Excellent performances by all participants.
Great range of stalls and good toilet facilities.
Accessible parking appeared to be an issue.
Thought a larger crowd would have attended.
When last Class 1 bands performed, at 4.15pm I was told that the passed bands wouldn’t be parading until 5.45pm.
I went home.
Watched the massed bands on utube. Very disappointed there wasn’t a proper march past. They just walked to front if bandstand.
Very disappointed to learn the Chieftan didnt arrive until all competitions had concluded. Bad manners!!
I was also at championship on Saturday, and can agree with some of what’s been said here already. The parking was basically non-existent, and buses were queued up all along Jellicoe Avenue at drop-off and pick-up times. Not ideal.
I did get my tickets scanned (and a stamp on the hand), but was kept waiting outside at the gate until 08.40 by security as no-one was there to check tickets before this. Also, not happy that paying for tickets in advance cost £11.55, when it was only £10 on the gate! Venue location also meant public transport from airport was not really an option so cost £90 for taxis to/from. The flights from Edinburgh were cheaper!
Timing of massed bands was frustrating but cannot really be changed on a whim as very many players are in the beer tent beforehand for a well-earned refreshment. I assume the time was set based on all the bands who entered actually turning up and playing. Unfortunately, I think due mainly to the security situation in Belfast in the run up, some decided not to travel. I can fully understand this, especially a head teacher pulling the plug on a kids band. Can you imagine the fallout if something happened!? This is why there was no Nov B as all three bands entered decided not to travel. So, bit of a delay between last band playing and massed bands as no Nov B, half missing in Nov A, half missing in Juv etc etc. The delay was not too big a deal for me, but obviously upset some others.
I thought the number of spectators was on the low side for a major championship, but again there are mitigating factors here.
Special correspondent is absolutely right
1) the car park I used was a very short walk from the venue, not bad at all.
2) the park was a good size and plenty of room for bands, vendors and spectators.
3) tickets were very reasonably priced considering it granted you access all day to world class performances across the grades.
4) I will agree with the point about the March past starting a long wait after the last band had played, however you cant even name the tune the massed bands played, Scotland the Brave was the tune of choice, not the battles O’er.
5) you either have the massed band or the traditional march past, you can’t have both, playing the salute to the chieftain is ample in my opinion, and all the drum majors saluted.
Yes it wasn’t perfect, but with a few minor changes, it would be a great major venue.
In short – the musical performances of the bands set a very high standard.
The venue and set up did not. No Nov B grade needs carefully looked at.
Thank you to all for the kind welcome.
I also was at Grove Playing Field on Saturday I experienced some of the negativity that your correspondant did. The fields themselves are suitable for a pipe band competition the infrastructure is not. I booked the rite price car park on Friday night and paid to park from 0800 until 20.30. I arrived at the park at 0800 and it was not open to be fair it opened after a short time. The attendant spoke to me and informed me that the park would be closed at 6pm and If I wasn’t back before then I would have to come back on Monday and get my car. I then had a bit of a walk to get to the venue. I was so annoyed with this I went home at 3pm. The infrastructure that was put in place is both unsuitable and not practical. I heard that coach parking was at the Belfast Zoo.
This was in sharp contrast as to what I observed at Edinburgh. Whilst I understand that sponsors have an influence on the location of a contest many people I spoke to could not understand that we hadn’t went back to stormount. That location is ideal having everything a pipe band competition requires. This needs to be looked at because people like me will not return.