The National Piping Centre and William Grant Foundation are delighted to confirm the competitor line up for the 52nd Glenfiddich Piping Championship, taking place at Blair Castle on Saturday 25th October from 10am.
The Glenfiddich Piping Championship was established in 1974 to bring together the world’s finest pipers and witness some of the finest renditions of the ancient and traditional piobaireachd or ceol mor (the great music) and light music or ceol beag (the little music).
The 10 competitors are invited to play as a result of having won prestigious accolades at other piping events during the last year. This year, there are three first time competitors, bringing a great new dynamic to the event.
This year’s competitors are:
- Callum Beaumont – 2024 Glenfiddich Piping Champion
- Finlay Johnston – Bratach Gorm Winner at Scottish Piping Society of London Annual Competition
- Alasdair Henderson – Overall winner at Scottish Piping Society of London Annual Competition
- Alan Bevan – R.G. Hardie & Co. Bagpipes Masters Solo Piping Competition winner 2025
- Steven Leask – Gold Medallist at 2025 Argyllshire Gathering
- Stuart Liddell – Winner of the Senior Piobaireachd at Argyllshire Gathering
- Brodie Watson-Massey – Gold Medallist at 2025 2025 Northern Meeting
- Angus MacColl – 2nd place in Northern Meeting Clasp (Senior Piobaireachd)
- Nick Hudson – Argyllshire Gathering Senior Piobaireachd 2nd place
- Ben Duncan – Argyllshire Gathering Former Winners MSR 2nd place
There are three second place qualifying places this year, as there were three people that qualified twice by winning events. These were: Finlay Johnston – Winner of Argyllshire Gathering Former Winners MSR; his first win in this event
Callum Beaumont – Winner of Northern Meeting Silver Star Former Winners MSR
Stuart Liddell – Winner of Northern Meeting Clasp Senior Piobaireachd
In the event that there are double champions, 2nd places at the Senior Piobaireachd events and Former Winners MSR events are used. If this still doesn’t complete the list of 10, then 3rd places are looked at and so on.
Judges this year are: Piobaireachd – Patricia Henderson, Dr Angus MacDonald, Dr Jack Taylor and for March, Strathspey & Reel – Iain MacFadyen, Peter Hunt and James McGillivray.
Fear an Tighe for the day will be John Wilson.
Once the day of competition has ended, the annual Pipers’ Ceilidh will take place from 8.30pm at the Atholl Palace Hotel in Pitlochry. This year the format has changed for this event to include a seated table plan, with an arrival glass of fizz and a three course menu, as well as ceilidh band and very special performance to finish the night. There are a limited number of tickets available to attend this black tie ceilidh available to purchase along with a ticket to the day of competition.
Tickets are available now to experience the event live at Blair Castle on Saturday 25th October. These tickets are selling fast and so book online at the National Piping Centre website in advance, as soon as possible. If you can’t join in person, the Livestream will once again be live from 09.45am, so get your tickets to tune in from the comfort of your own chair! More information and tickets can be found at: www.thepipingcentre.co.uk/glenfiddich
