Piping & Drumming Competitions
The piping and drumming competition at this year’s Games is the largest in North America, and includes Grade 1 Pipe Bands!
Piping and drumming competitions at the are facilitated by the Midwest Pipe Band Association.
Chicago Scots would like to thank Jim Sim for his efforts organizing the Pipe Band Competition.
For front row seats to the Massed Band Performances, and many other benefits, please consider buying a VIP pass.
See the full list of bands that competed at last year’s games and competition winners below.
Grade 5 Bands
| City of Rockford Pipe Band | Rockford, IL |
| 87th Cleveland Pipe Band | Cleveland, OH |
| Nashville Pipes & Drums | Nashville, TN |
| James Enright Memorial | Chicago, IL |
| Macalester College Pipe Band | St. Paul, MN |
| Chicago Stock Yard Kilty Band | Chicago, IL |
| Firefighters Highland Guard of Naperville | Naperville, IL |
| Celtic Cross Pipes and Drums | Eureka, IL |
| Grand Traverse Pipes and Drums | Traverse City, MI |
| Omaha Pipes and Drums | Omaha, NE |
| Chicago Highlanders Pipe Band | Palatine, IL |
| Flint Scottish Pipe Band | Flint, MI |
Grade 4 Bands
| Capital City Pipe Band | Columbus, OH |
| Chicago Stock Yard Kilty Band | Chicago, IL |
| Caledonia Kilty Pipe Band | Mishawaka, IN |
| Madison Pipes and Drums | Madison, WI |
| 87th Cleveland Pipe Band | Cleveland, OH |
| Dundee Scottish Pipe Band | Dundee, IL |
| Bergen Irish Pipe Band | Midland Park, NJ |
| Kansas City St. Andrew Pipe Band | Kansas City, MO |
| Loch Norman Pipe Band | Cornelius, NC |
| Queen City Pipes & Drums | Matthews, NC |
| Silver Thistle Pipes & Drums | Austin, TX |
| Siren City Pipe Band | Norfolk, VA |
Grade 3 Bands
| Macalester College Pipe Band | St. Paul, MN |
| Wake & District Pipe Band | Clayton, NC |
| Turlach Ur Pipe Band | Grinnell, IA |
| Carnegie Mellon Univeristy Pipe Band | Pittsburcg, PA |
| Chicago Celtic Pipe Band | Chicago, IL |
| City of Angels Pipe Band | Los Angeles, CA |
| Westminster Pipe Band | Oklahoma City, OK |
| Kevin R. Blandford Memorial Pipe Band | San Ramon, CA |
| City of Chicago Pipe Band | Chicago, IL |
Grade 2 Bands
| Midlothian Scottish Pipe Band | Lombard, IL |
| MacMillan Pipe Band | Washington D.C. |
| Greater Midwest Pipe Band | Battle Creek, MI |
| Ulster Scottish Pipe Band | Philadelphia, PA |
| Great Lakes Pipe Band | Cleveland, OH |
Grade 1 Bands
| St. Thomas Alumni Pipe Band | Houston, TX |
Piping Judges
| Richard Parkes MBE | Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Terry Lee | Vancouver, BC Canada |
| Bob Worrall | Burlington, ON Canada |
| Alex MacIntyre | Edmonton, AB Canada |
| Stephen MacNeil | Traverse City, MI |
| Sean Sommers | Calgary, AB Canada |
| John Elliott | Toronto, ON Canada |
Drumming Judges
| David Brown | Aberdeen, Scotland |
| Duncan Millar | Seattle, WA |
Registration
To enter the pipe band contest, solo piping, or solo drumming you can go to http://www.MWPBA.org.
Official Sponsor
Thank you to Roscoe, the Official Piping & Drumming Sponsor at the Chicago Scots 39th Annual Scottish Festival & Highland Games.
Every year at our Scottish Festival & Highland Games, the Chicago Scots feature a family or an organization as our Honored Clan. This year, to recognize and celebrate its’ strong Scottish roots, our Honored Clan is Rotary International. We are proud to announce that Rotary International’s Scottish President, Gordon McInally has agreed to lead our Parade of Tartans at 12:30 p.m. Gordon will also receive the Salute to the Chieftain from the Massed Pipe Bands at approximately 6.30pm on Saturday, June 15, 2024.