The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association Northern Ireland Branch Executive is pleased to announce the dates for local championships for the 2024 season have now been confirmed.
Through continued close engagement with our band representatives, together with two productive Pipe Majors & Leading Drummers meetings, RSPBANI Executive has now agreed a full season of local championships built around our now-confirmed five major championships.
The recent news that RSPBANI will host the first major championship of the season at Bangor’s Ward Park on 18 May was welcomed by everyone near and further afield. Working in conjunction with RSPBA HQ and Ards and North Down Borough Council, the Branch is elated that the United Kingdom Championships will again take place in Northern Ireland this year. The announcement of our final major of the season, the British Championship being held on 8 June at Forres last week meant that the Executive was able to finalise our own local calendar of events and whilst some venues are still to be confirmed, we wanted to update our bands and supporters as early as possible to enable their planning for the summer months to commence. The Executive will release updates on the exact venues of the remaining championships as soon as they are confirmed with local Councils.
We welcome the return of a contest in Enniskillen again after a few years hiatus and our thanks to all within the Co. Fermanagh Section who have worked tirelessly to bring a championship back to the banks of Lough Erne.
The All-Ireland Championship is jointly run between the RSPBANI and the IPBA, switching between Northern Ireland and Ireland every other year. This season the event will take place on Saturday 6 July at the lovely Newbridge House in Donabate, Co. Dublin.
Branch Chairperson, Mr Alastair Patterson said, “Once again we are delighted to see our plans coming together for another full and exciting season. The continued hard work and efforts of the Branch Officers which will continue over the coming weeks is something I am very proud of as Chairperson. I must also extend my sincere gratitude to our Branch Directors for their continued input and of course my sincere gratitude to our late Vice Chairman at HQ, Mr John Hughes, who was an invaluable help to me in securing the United Kingdom Championships. 2024 is shaping up to be a very full and enjoyable season where we will continue to Feel Every Beat, Hear Every Note and See Every Flourish”.
As always, RSPBANI Executive also acknowledges the major contribution of our local Councils across Northern Ireland and The Arts Council for Northern Ireland for their continued support in making our events possible and enabling another exciting music-filled season.
More details and updates will follow in the coming weeks, and we look forward to officially launching each individual event on our website www.rspbani.org and on our social media channels.
