Latest News
A Virtual Branch Meeting will be held on Saturday, 25th September at 2pm via Zoom
Agenda, Minutes and Zoom link will be forwarded to band secretaries shortly
AGM
The Branch AGM will be held on Saturday, 27th of November 2021 at 11 am.
Further details will be announced nearer the time
Nominations for election of Officers and notices of motion for the AGM must be received from band secretaries by the Branch Secretary three weeks prior to the meeting (6th November 2021 at 11am),
We would like to remind bands that they must have paid their RSPBA fees in order to vote at the AGM
Email contact for the Branch Secretary is secretary@rspbani.org
Find find the results attached for the recent Mid Ulster Outdoor Solos
Date: Saturday 4th September 2021
Location: McKee Clock Arena, Bangor
Time: From 12 noon
Our third Festival Event - The Ards and North Down Pipe Band Festival - arranged along with Ards and North Down Borough Council will provide another fantastic and safe opportunity for bands, Drum Majors and Dancers to perform in front of members of the public.
Each pipe band has again been asked to prepare and play tunes of their own choice to entertain the crowd, those attending the event will also see entertaining performances from our Drum Majors, the Michelle Johnston School of Highland Dance, and traditional music from Ian Burrows & Kenny Qua throughout the day.
The Pipe Bands who are performing range from Grade 4b to Grade 1 competition grading standard, they have all been practising hard for this event as of course has the Drum Majors and Highland Dancers. All of the performances will commence from 12pm to 4pm with a coming together for a colourful finale at approx. 4.30pm
Both RSPBANI and Ards and North Down Borough Council have worked hard to ensure that the event is totally compliant to Covid-19 safety guidance and best practice. To ensure social distancing can be achieved, admission to members of the public is being controlled by tickets and a maximum of 1000 tickets is being released. There is a token charge for spectator tickets of £1.00 plus booking fee.
Tickets can be booked online here
Please note that ticket sales are online only
Mid Ulster Outdoor Solos – Saturday 21st August 2021 commencing at 1100 in Cookstown High School Grounds
As part of the Pipe Band Festival Showcase Events being organised by the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association, Northern Ireland Branch (RSPBANI), the Mid Ulster Outdoor Solos will take place on Saturday 21st August 2021.
This event is being mainly organised by the Mid Ulster Section of RSPBANI. The main sponsors for the Solo event are Mid Ulster District Council who have assisted greatly in providing practical assistance and guidance.
Organisers have carried out a robust detailed risk assessment and introduced a range of risk mitigations to ensure that the event is totally compliant to Covid-19 safety guidance and best practice.
The Mid Ulster Solos takes place in the very popular and accessible grounds of Cookstown High School (kindly granted by Governors and Principal of Cookstown High School). There is free admission to the event and ample Car Parking is available within the grounds of Cookstown High School – please follow directions from the stewards on site on the day.
This is the first competitive piping and drumming event to take place in Northern Ireland since 2019 outside virtual online competitions.
There is a very wide range of solos grades on offer in Piping, Snare Drumming, Bass Drumming, Tenor Drumming and Piobaireachd, from Novice up to A Grade.
The competition starts at 11am and the prizegiving is expected to commence at approximately 4.30pm.
The draw can be viewed on the RSPBANI website competition area, and the running order can be viewed on the RSPBANI website news items.
We look forward greatly to this event
The draw for the Mid Ulster Outdoor Solos can be viewed in the competition area of the website here
The running order of the grades is attached
The Antrim & Newtownabbey Pipe Band Festival was arranged by the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association, Northern Ireland Branch along with Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council to provide a fantastic and safe opportunity for bands, Drum Majors and Dancers to perform in front of members of the public for the first time since March 2020, with many not having performed since August 2019.
Each pipe band has been asked to prepare and play tunes of their own choice to entertain the crowd, those attending the event will also see entertaining performances from our Drum Majors and the Michelle Johnston School of Highland Dance throughout the day. We are all so excited and looking forward immensely to seeing and hearing live music and entertainment again!
The Pipe Bands who are performing range from Grade 4b to Grade 3a competition grading standard, they have all been practising hard for this event as of course has the Drum Majors and Highland Dancers. All of the performances will commence from 2pm to 4pm with a coming together for a colourful finale at 4.30pm
Huge efforts have been put in by the RSPBANI and Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council to ensure that the event is totally compliant to Covid 19 safety guidance and best practice. To ensure social distancing can be achieved admission to members of the public is being controlled by tickets and a maximum of 1000 tickets is being released. There is a token charge for spectator tickets of £1.00, all proceeds from tickets will be donated to the Mayor’s charity. Tickets can be booked online here
If you do not wish to book online, you can contact Antrim & Newtownabbey Borough council on 02894 481338 to book over the phone. Members of the public must have a ticket booked to get admitted, no admission will be permitted without a ticket.
Please note that public spectator admission tickets will not be posted out by the Council, an email confirmation will be sent to those booking online, and a printed list of sale ticket names will be held at the gates for those booking over the phone so that they can be admitted
Disabled parking only available within the grounds of Antrim Castle Gardens. There is however public car parking available very close to the event location and within Antrim Town car parks which are a short 5 minute walk away
Please see info below on how to get spectator tickets for the Antrim and Newtownabbey Pipe Band Festival that takes place in Antrim Castle Gardens on Saturday 7th August,
Admission to members of the public is being controlled by tickets and a maximum of 1000 tickets is being released. There is a token charge for spectator tickets of £1.00, all proceeds from tickets will be donated to the Mayor’s charity. Tickets can be booked online here
If you do not wish to book online, you can contact Antrim & Newtownabbey Borough council on 02894 481338 to book over the phone. Members of the public must have a ticket booked to get admitted, no admission will be permitted without a ticket.
Please note that public spectator admission tickets will not be posted by the Council, an email confirmation will be sent to those booking online, and a printed list of sales will be held at the gates for those booking over the phone,
There is no spectator parking available within the grounds of Antrim Castle GardensThere is no spectator parking available within the grounds of Antrim Castle Gardens but there is a lot of parking available near the event location
The Ulster-Scots Agency has opened the Music Tuition grants for projects commencing from 1st September 2021 and ending by 30th April 2022.
The funding is at a rate of 75% of eligible costs, which provides financial support to voluntary groups, including bands, to deliver a 20-week tuition programme and support tutor costs and venue hire.
Over the years, the musical tuition programme has encouraged the development of numerous young musicians and we hope that groups and bands will avail of this opportunity to develop the Ulster-Scots musical tradition and seek to rebuild after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Applications for grants close at 5pm on Sunday 18th July 2021 and must be submitted using the online application form.
Groups interested in applying should register through the link on the Ulster-Scots Agency website - https://form.jotform.com/211084746074354. Applicants will then be emailed an application form, supporting documents to complete, and a copy of the guidelines.
To support groups and bands complete the application process, the Ulster-Scots Community Network has also created a YouTube video which will be available via social media shortly.
The last fifteen months have been a difficult and challenging time for bands and voluntary groups. We hope the music tuition programme will offer the opportunity to develop musical skills and attract new participants into the Ulster-Scots cultural tradition.