Glasgow's much-loved Piping Live! festival returns for its 21st edition from Saturday 10th - Sunday 18th August. 

Welcoming over 30,000 attendees to outdoor and indoor venues across Glasgow each year, Piping Live! showcases an eclectic programme of events for pipers, drummers and music lovers alike, held at venues across the city.

This 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.

Here are 10 top picks from this year’s festival which are not to be missed.

1. Piping Live! Big Band

Scotland’s biggest week of bagpipes will get formally underway on Monday 12th August with the iconic Piping Live! Big Band welcoming pipers and drummers of all ages and abilities to join the festival’s mass participation event, filling the streets of Glasgow’s west end with music as they march from Mansfield Park in Partick to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. This year looks set to be the biggest parade in the festival’s history with 170 pipers and drummers already registered to take part. Expect a show stopping wall of sound and tartan that will stop passers by in their tracks.

2. Croft No. Five

Iconic folk fusion band Croft No. Five will get the festival’s second weekend started in spectacular style on Friday 16th August when they perform a specially created set with celebrated piper Ailis Sutherland at Saint Luke’s – a new venue for the festival this year. The much-loved band have made a much-anticipated return with a series of live shows this summer showcasing their unique progressive sound combining world music, trad, funk, and EDM. Support comes from the latest project from piper, composer and recording artist John Mulhearn – The Pipe Factory which celebrates Glasgow and the music that runs through the city. 

3. Learn@Live! 

Piping Live!’s beloved workshop series Learn@Live! returns for 2024, with esteemed musicians and specialists including master reedmaker Donald MacPhee, Canadian piper, composer and performer Matt MacIsaac, and piping trailblazer Fred Morrison hosting engaging workshops from Tuesday 13th - Thursday 15th August at the National Piping Centre. The perfect opportunity for emerging pipers and drummers to further hone their skills. 

4. The Street Café

The popular Street Café returns for 2024, running from midday each day at the National Piping Centre on McPhater Street with an array of emerging talent, international styles of bagpipes, live podcasts, pipe band practices and showcases, all free to attend. Grab a drink from the bar and enjoy back to back performances in the centre of Glasgow for the duration of the festival.

5. Ceol Nua

Sauchiehall Street venue Nice N Sleazy will host Ceol Nua on Monday 12th August, Piping Live!’s progressive avant garde piping night, showcasing boundary pushing performances in the heart of the city and featuring innovative fusion trio The Sólàs Collective and the Nexus Project led by Australian piper Bede Patterson. Perfect for anyone looking to push their musical boundaries and discover something new.

6. Gig in the Gallery at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

In Glasgow’s West End, the iconic Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum will host a recital by an amazing international artist each day of the festival at 2pm, showcasing bagpiping traditions from around the world in the breathtaking Centre Hall. Drop by to enjoy talent from Scotland, Ireland, Sweden, and Galicia filling the majestic venue with music for free each day.

7. Come and Try Sessions

For those that have always wanted to try the bagpipes, the festival’s Come and Try sessions, running from Monday 12th - Friday 16th August at the National Piping Centre, offer the ideal opportunity for anyone of any age to give Scotland’s iconic national instrument a go.

8. Pipe Idol

A staple of the Piping Live! programme, the Pipe Idol under 21 solo piping competition will see the best young pipers in the world go to head in heats taking place from Monday 12th - Thursday 15th August, with the grand final also taking place on Thursday evening at the National Piping Centre. Competitors will perform a set including a hornpipe and jig, a March, Strathspey and Reel and a medley of tunes. This event is the perfect platform for the next generation of talent to shine

9. Buchanan Street Pipe Bands

Buchanan Street will become a stage for Pipe Bands from all over the world throughout the week, with performers from Scotland, England, Canada, the USA, and Australia filling the City Centre with music. Unticketed and free for all to attend, the bands will perform at intervals from The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall Steps down to St Enoch Square at lunchtime each day. A spectacle of Scottish music and culture not to be missed!

10. Ally the Piper Q&A

Ally the Piper, one of the most famous pipers in the world, has racked up more than 4 million social media followers for her innovative piping content. She will be at the Street Cafe on Monday 12th August as she chats with the Piping Live! team about her life in piping, how she grew her profile and brand online and more. She will also perform a few sets as part of this very special hour-long ticketed Q&A which has already seen tickets flying out the door.

Piping Live! is supported by the William Grant Foundation, Glasgow Life, EventScotland and Creative Scotland.

The world’s biggest piping festival Piping Live! is run by the National Piping Centre in the lead up to and across the weekend of The World Pipe Band Championships 2024.

For those unable to attend this year’s Piping Live! in person, the festival will once again have a great programme of online events available to watch via livestream on their website.

Piping Live! 2024 takes place from Saturday 10th - Sunday 18th August.