When people think about the Glengarry Highland Games they think about pipe bands. The Games are famed for their pipe bands and of course, it’s the home of the prestigious North American Pipe Band Championships™. This year’s Games will be sure to please everyone who comes to Maxville on August 1 and 2 with fifty-three pipe bands gathered to play in the massed pipe bands. Of those bands, forty-five will be competing on Saturday for the Grades 1,2,3,4 and 5 North American Championships.
The Games are thrilled to welcome last year’s North American Pipe Band Champions, the 78th Fraser Highlanders from Milton, Ontario as well as US bands from New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Utah and past champions, the Dunedin Pipe Band from Florida. Canadian bands represent the provinces of Nova Scotia, British Columbia, PEI, Quebec and over twenty bands from Ontario including the Games’ own Glengarry Pipe Bands.
Both Friday and Saturday will provide lots of opportunities to enjoy even more piping and drumming competitions starting with the amateur solo events on Friday. The prestigious Piobaireachd Society Gold Medal competitions held in a church in downtown Maxville are always a popular attraction showcasing the art of classical piping. Friday is capped off with the massed bands at the spectacular Friday Night Tattoo, an evening of pageantry and music capped off with a dazzling display of fireworks.
The main event is on Saturday with the professional solo piping and drumming competitions, the tenor and bass drum contests and the pipe band competitions. The massed bands take to the field again at noon hour for the Official Ceremonies and then the full complement of fifty-three bands will perform at the Saturday evening closing where more than 1,500 pipers and drummers will fill the infield with a sight and sound that will be remembered long after the last note has faded away.
The 2025 Glengarry Highland Games will take place in Maxville, Ontario August 1 & 2, 2025. For full details visit: www.glengarryhighlandgames.com.