St. Patrick’s Day in Vancouver can be one of the busiest weeks of the year for a Scottish bagpiper – and it’s not even a Scottish celebration. As a Nova Scotian Scot, I find it amusing in Vancouver that there seems to be little difference between Scottish & Irish culture. For Irish events, like St. Patrick’s Day, pipers are a busy lot, playing at pubs, concerts and parades. the majority of our tunes are Scottish, with a few Irish ones thrown in. It’s fun and thoroughly enjoyable to bring a bit of pipe music to various events. And while not strictly speaking an Irish instrument, the great highland pipes seem to work wonderfully in the hands of Irish men and women. Two Irish Grade 1 pipe bands (Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band from 
Lisburn, Northern Ireland and the St. Laurence O’Toole Pipe Band from Dublin) have won 13 world pipe band championships between them, and that’s not even counting the lower grades. \
We have lots of Irish pubs in Vancouver (at least in name), and while not all of them hire pipers, you can certainly find me piping at The Blarney Stone in Vancouver’s Gastown for my 5th year. Come on down on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. It’s a full-day of fun on Sunday with lots of other entertainment for the adults and kids.