One of the three flagship events in the solo piping world, The Northern Meeting has been cancelled for this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The decision came today in short statement released by The Northern Meeting Piping Convener, Alan Forbes:
“Although the competition is still some months away we feel that it is unrealistic to expect conditions to change sufficiently to give us confidence that running it in the normal way would be considered safe, and we do not wish to prolong the uncertainty around it for longer.”
Eden Court Theatre has been closed since March 18 in any case with its 200 staff redeployed into the council’s other departments. It is believed the Northern Meeting had not yet signed a contract with the theatre for this year’s piping competitions.
Currently, the Argyllshire Gathering and the Scottish Piping Society of London are keeping their respective events “under review”. Torquil Telfer, the Piping Convenor at Oban told Bagpipe.news, “We will be guided as always by government recommendations and the need for health and safety of all contestants, judges, stewards and audience. The Piping Committee and the stewards of the Gathering are keeping the situation under close review.”
