The 2026 pipe band season has been like none other – in grade one alone, four different bands winning the five majors, and a series of stunning performances across multiple different disciplines. Luckily for the Scottish pipe band community, Kiwis were replete across almost every grade one pipe band for the summer. We thought we would check in with them to see how their pipe band summers had been, and see how their preparations for the World Pipe Band Championships went. We asked them all, and these are the responses we got: Jack Spencer – People’s Ford Boghall and Bathgate It’s been great being back with Boghall and Bathgate for a second season in 2026. The band has already had one of its most successful seasons to date with a minor win at Dollar against a strong field, three 2nd places at the first 3 majors and 3rd at the most recent major the Scottish Championships, with a 1st in the MSR. We are also currently tied for first in the Champion of Champions table. The results have been a massive improvement on last year and are a testament to the talent and dedication of a young and relatively new musical leadership team of Calum Watson, Kerr Mcquillan, Bradley Parker and Jill Watson. I’ve been over since the week of the first major at the end of May and I feel super at home. The bass section has never been tighter musically, visually and socially, and coming back again this year has cemented lifelong friendships and memories. Playing our new Back in Black medley at the British and European majors have been my favourite performances so far in my playing journey-I haven’t played a medley like this where the bass section is really front and centre of the overall musical package. More of this please! The build up to worlds has been pretty similar to any other major but ensuring a good spread of the 4 sets at practices to ensure consistency over the 2 days at the worlds. I am confident the team will deliver some entertaining performances and am loving just being apart of it all. Morgan Tabuteau – St Laurence O’Toole It feels like only a few months ago I was stepping onto “the green” wearing the Manawatu kilt, but countless flights to Ireland, an entire new repertoire of music and many new names/faces later, it’s a bit unbelievable that I’ll be back in a SLOT uniform. It’s been both the shortest year and longest season I’ve ever had. I live on an island on the west coast of Scotland, so getting to weekly practices for me is two and half hours of boats, trains, cars and someone to take me in for the night. Thankfully, the SLOT crew and McKay family have made it possible and something to look forward to each week. We kicked off the season with a trip to Spain performing around Madrid – with a few pints of Guinness in between – for one of the biggest St Patrick’s Day celebrations I’ve ever seen. The competition season has been going well with some pretty consistent results in the top 4 – as well as going head to head with Field Marshal and taking the title of All Ireland Champions. Worlds week is shaping up to be a good one with a performance at piping live alongside the girls of the SLOT pipe corps for the Maket Collective showcase, some final practices and four stunning performances on the green. To sum it up… I wish Ryanair had airpoints. Luke Stanley-Ryan – Inveraray and District It’s been a really great season at Inveraray & District for my 3rd year over with the band, with the competition season and several concerts keeping us busy throughout the year. One of the big highlights so far was our trip to Chicago, where we played a concert and spent some time with the piping and drumming community at the Chicago Highland Games. It was a fantastic experience that everyone in the band really enjoyed, and it was great to see so many ardent fans of the band come out to see us play. We were also fortunate enough to win the most recent Major after a tough first half of the season which was a great highlight for the band and is a huge boost heading into the worlds. There’s a great atmosphere within the band just now, we’re all enjoying the preparation and push for the final stretch. We’re looking forward to the Worlds and the opportunity to put everything we’ve worked on throughout the season into four hopefully great performances that we’re all proud of. Next month – we catch up with Harry Justice and Rachel Holyoake, New Zealand’s newest World Champions.