Glasgow is set to host Scotland’s biggest week of bagpipes this summer, with the return of Piping Live! from Saturday 10th - Sunday 18th August, and The World Pipe Band Championships on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th August.

The world’s biggest piping festival, Piping Live! attracts over 30,000 attendees to Glasgow each year, with an eclectic programme of events for pipers and music lovers alike to be held at venues across the city.

Run by the National Piping Centre and now in its 21st year, the festival will have lively concerts, captivating recitals, hard-fought competitions, engaging workshops and energetic sessions involving 700 musicians on the musical menu across its nine days, including a swathe of free and ticketed events.

Presale tickets will be available from 12noon, Tuesday 14th May to the Piping Live! mailing list, with general tickets on sale from 10am, Friday 17th May at www.pipinglive.co.uk.

Two pipers standing infront of red shutters

Social media sensation Ally Crowley-Duncan, known online as Piper Ally with a combined following of over 4 million for her innovative piping content, will be flying in to take part in Piping Live!. Originally from New York, Ally will be performing and hosting a Q&A as part of the Street Cafe, taking part in the Piping Live! Big Band, and acting as a secret judge in competitions across the week.

Ally the Piper, said:

Being part of Piping Live! is like standing on the grandest stage of bagpipe mastery. It's where the world's finest gather to showcase their talents and where every note carries the weight of centuries of tradition. To be invited back to this world-renowned festival is an amazing moment for me in my musical journey.

General tickets for The World Pipe Band Championships 2024 – which takes place on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th August – go on sale at 10am on Tuesday 14th May and are available at www.theworlds.co.uk. (Grade 1 tickets will be released at a later date.)

The World Pipe Band Championships – a major event which Glasgow first hosted in 1948 and the city has staged every year since 1986 – attracts thousands of pipers and drummers from all over the world to compete in the ultimate ‘battle of the bands’.

Organised on behalf of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association by Glasgow Life – the charity which delivers culture and sport in Glasgow.

Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association Chief Executive, Colin Mulhern, said:

Last year’s spectacular World Pipe Band Championships, which attracted a fantastic attendance from bands from almost every corner of the globe as well as spectators from near and far, demonstrated just how much this iconic event means to the international piping community, and how much interest there is in the music of Scotland’s national instrument.

Piping Live! 2024 takes place from Saturday 10th - Sunday 18th August. Tickets and more information is available at www.pipinglive.co.uk.

The World Pipe Band Championships take place on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th August. General tickets for The World Pipe Band Championships 2024 go on sale at 10am today, 14 May, and are available from www.theworlds.co.uk.