General News
14 February, 2025
Championships return in May
Following the success of the national competition in Maryborough, the Victorian Pipe Band Championships will bring pipes and drums to Princes Park once again.
On May 17, the 2024-25 Victorian contest season will culminate with a world-class pipe band competition returning to Maryborough thanks to the Maryborough Highland Society and Pipe Bands Victoria.
Pipe Bands Australia’s Victorian Branch chair, Stephen Matthews, said Maryborough is a fantastic host of the competition due to the beautiful venue and the community’s willingness to get behind it.
“The support from the Highland Society is invaluable. A lot of the promoters don’t have a lot of funding or volunteer support whereas Maryborough has that in spades which sets it apart,” he said.
“There’s no question about it, Maryborough is a fantastic venue [partly due] to the town getting behind it.”
The public can expect to be in amongst the festivities with this competition, unlike the Highland Gathering where the pipe bands are at a distance.
The public can walk right by the bands hearing the individual instruments as they pass the rows. Perhaps it can be a challenge to notice what Malcolm Blandthorn, general manager of the Highland Society, can’t and the judges can.
“There’s two circles set up in the middle of the oval, there’s a hospitality tent somewhere in between where you can grab a drink, and be able to listen to the bands by going from side to side,” he said.
“I wouldn’t want to be one of the judges because I don’t have an ear for it because I reckon they all sound great. But they can just pick up these little intricacies in between band from band.”
With the help of their members, volunteers, and other community groups such as the Carisbrook Lions the Maryborough Highland Society plan to bring a festival feel to the competition. There will even be a 9 am parade with a stronger focus on the pipe bands in comparison to the Highland Gathering’s parade.
“We’re very adamant we’ve got a nice street parade [at 9 am], there’s the highland dancing, obviously heavy games, we’ll get a whole bunch of clan tents involved and some Scottish-ware sales as well to make it more of a community event,” he said.
Mr Blandthorn has a dream that the biannual Victorian competition could find a permanent home in Maryborough if the community shows its support.
“Without that local community support, it makes it very hard for us to bring these national or state events to our small community of Maryborough. We really rely on the locals getting around it, as they do with the Highland Gathering,” he said.
Despite interest shown by the Highland Society to host the championship following its debut in the town Mr Matthews said future plans are still unknown.
“I think Maryborough would like it ongoing but so would other promoters. It could be a bit competitive, I wouldn’t say there could be a guarantee it will be in Maryborough going forward as a sure thing. That’s not a decision I can make, it’s not a decision that has been made, we’ll cross each bridge when we come to it,” he said.
But while it is here Mr Blandthorn and the Highland Society’s Nick Weaver hope it will inspire new people to join the hobby and sport.
“When the oval’s all set it looks magic down there,” Mr Weaver said.
Their hope comes from a desire for change with the decline of the Maryborough and District Highland Pipe Band.
“Over the COVID period, like a lot of smaller organisations, the Maryborough and District Highland Pipe Band has pretty much got to the point now where they’re really struggling to continue forward. We want to bring people’s interest back into this,” Mr Blandthorn said.
“Very much at the moment they do not have enough players to put together a band.”
In response there will be a ‘come and try day’ on June 1 for those that want to see if pipe band is for them, especially after getting a taste at the championship.
“It might be the drums, it might be the pipes, but it might be something that sparks your interest that you want to get involved with as well,” Mr Blandthorn said.
Maryborough is a birth place of pipe bands as we know them today, hosting the first official national championship in 1961, so it’s no surprise the Highland Society are excited to bring the sport back to Maryborough.
“We’re obviously very proud of that history that we have. We are one of the oldest clubs within Australia, the Maryborough Highland Society. So anytime we can go back to those roots and bring something that’s a bit different into town we’ll jump at every opportunity that we can,” Mr Blandthorn said.