Wrapping Up 2018 Bagpiping in Vancouver
It’s been a great 2018. As both the bagpiper for Rocky Mountaineer Rail Tours and the chair/executive director of the BC Highland Games & Scottish Festival, we have had a very busy year. The Rocky Mountaineer season is wrapping up next week, with another great year and thousands of international guests passing through the main …
The End of an Era at Vancouver’s Bagpipe Repair Shop
We all knew it was coming, and now it’s official. After a long career as Vancouver’s go-to bagpipe doctor, Mike McDonald is retiring. In a letter to customers, he says he is going to  “try to take advantage of the so called Golden years. To this end, I have enjoyed the business and opportunity to …
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First ivory restrictions on bagpipes. Now African blackwood.
There’s a good reason forward-thinking countries have banned or tightly control the over-the-border movement of products that contain ivory, such as bagpipes. A proper certificate for an ivory/silver set of pipes is a hassle, but worth it if it slows down the barbaric poaching of elephants in the wild. But now another key component of the …
Read more “First ivory restrictions on bagpipes. Now African blackwood.”
A #Vancouver Bagpiper in the November Rain
It may appear meditative, or a bit reflective, but a bagpiper playing under the grey, overcast skies of November in Vancouver is likely thinking about the weather. The warm days of spring, summer and early fall are behind us. Now it’s time to start wrapping up the year with  Remembrance Day 2016 and all the other events that lead …
BC Pipers on the Great Wall of China
It was an amazing trip full of music, dancing, friendships, an engagement, a loss and a lot of memories. From September 26 to October 3, 2016, almost 30 RCMP pipers, drummers, dancers and their spouses from BC, Edmonton and Regina travelled to China to participate along with dozens of other musical and dancing acts in the …
Bagpiping at weddings in Vancouver and beyond
Have you thought about walking down the aisle to the skirl of the great highland bagpipes? If so, you are not alone. In the past year, there has been a resurgence of brides and couples inquiring about adding cultural and musical impact to their wedding ceremony. From grand entrances at a church, to leading in the groomsmen, …
Ringing in the New Year at 4 & Midnight
It can be a lot of fun piping in a new year in British Columbia, especially at 4 o’clock on New Year’s Eve. When the clock chimes 4 pm in BC, it’s rings midnight in Scotland. And when Scotland celebrates, so too do folks here in BC.  For years, families, friends and groups have been meeting at pubs around the …