This year’s Lorient Interceltic Festival may be cancelled but its organisers are planning a live bagadoù concert.
Entitled simply ‘2020 Bagpipes Celebration’, the concert will take place on the evening of August 8 at the Stade du Moustoir in the Breton town.
Four leading bagad are taking part: Bagad Quimper, Bagad Cap Caval, Bagad Roñsed-Mor of Locoal-Mendon and local outfit, Bagad Lorient.
A spokesman said: “For more than two hours we will offer a ‘carte blanche’ for a big party and a reminder of our origins – the arrival of the bagadoù championship in Lorient in 1971.”
At the time of posting, the lockdown has been almost entirely lifted in most of France. Mitigating measures are in place, however, such as the compulsory wearing of a face mask at all times on public transport. Stadiums reopen to the public this Saturday but currently there is an upper limit of 5,000 people per venue.
Following on from its recent successful onlne competition for amateur competitors, the Pipers and Pipe Band Society of Ontario (PPBSO) is holding four more online contests this summer. The competitions are open to pipers across all grades.
The dates are:
- July 19 (registration deadline: July 12)
- August 2 (registration deadline: July 26)
- August 16 (registration deadline: August 9)
- August 30 (registration deadline: August 23)
Submission is by YouTube video.
Full details can be found HERE.