{"id":11365,"date":"2026-11-02T07:47:25","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T07:47:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/?p=11365"},"modified":"2026-11-02T07:47:25","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T07:47:25","slug":"mg-alba-scots-trad-music-awards-2026-williamwood-pipe-band","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/mg-alba-scots-trad-music-awards-2026-williamwood-pipe-band\/","title":{"rendered":"MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2026: Williamwood Pipe Band"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Congratulations to Williamwood Pipe Band<\/strong> who has \/ have been nominated in Scottish Pipe Band of the Year sponged by National Piping Centre in the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2026. Vote for Williamwood Pipe Band now!<\/a><\/strong> It’s going to be another great night at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards on Saturday 5th December in Paisley Arena, Lagoon Centre. Why not join us for a brilliant night of music and awards. Buy a ticket here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

We asked Dougie of Williamwood Pipe Band<\/strong> the following questions.<\/p>\n

Tell us about yourself<\/strong>
\nBased Glasgow's Southside, Williamwood Pipe Band was re-established in 2023 after laying dormant since 2019. The current leadership took up the challenge of reviving Williamwood after recognising the lack of opportunities for aspiring or established musicians in the area to join a local band.
\nFrom the outset, the Band's main aims were: to establish an environment which would encourage local pipers and drummers back into pipe band playing and; lay the foundations to develop talent for the future. Both of these values remain central to the Band's ethos and long term sustainability.<\/p>\n

Any particular career highlights?<\/strong>
\nSince starting back competitively in 2024, The Band have exceeded all expectations by gaining promotion every year, most recently being invited to compete in Grade 3A for season 2027.
\nThe most recent promotion came on the back of a very strong 2026 season in 3B, where they became Major winners by claiming the Scottish Championships in July; finished 3rd at a very closely contested World Championships; and placed 3rd in the overall Champion of Champions standings.
\nAway from competition, the band returned from a very successful trip to M\u00fchldorf, Bavaria in September. There, they headlined the Festival Parade (approximately 250,000 people attended the festival this year), as well as staging a sell-out concert supported by the Blaskapelle Altm\u00fcldorf Band.
\nThe development of new pipers and drummers is also starting to bear fruit, with 8 students now up and running on bagpipes and many more working their way through the rudiments and tunes on chanters and pads.<\/p>\n

What are your plans for the future?<\/strong>
\nGoing forward, the Band aims to challenge for prizes in a very competitive Grade 3A field next year. They are also looking at opportunities to play at more festivals and gigs, to continue to promote Scottish culture and music further afield.
\nThe longer-term objective over the next year or so is to establish a community Grade 4 band. The intention is to provide more musicians with access to play in a pipe band environment, and provide a stepping stone to progress on to higher grade bands. To this end, we are working with local tutors, the local school and are attending workshops organised by the National Piping Centre to ensure a pathway is in place for maintaining high standards of tuition for all students.
\nExciting times ahead!<\/p>\n

Williamwood Pipe Band Social Media<\/strong>
\nWebsite: <\/a>
\nFacebook: @williamwoodpipeband
\nInstagram: @williamwoodpipeband<\/p>\n

Listen to music: http:\/\/<\/a><\/p>\n

The 2026 MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards are on the 5th December 2026 in Paisley Arena, Lagoon Centre! You will be able to watch it live in person (buy a ticket here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Hosted by Scottish personalities Alistair Heather and Mary Ann Kennedy, the night will welcome live performances from some of the brightest lights on the thriving trad scene today including Valtos, Gnoss, Sian, F\u00e8is Ph\u00e0islig, Spodo Komodo and BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Rachel Groves and many more!<\/p>\n

If you would like to support Hands Up for Trad in their work with Scottish trad music and musicians why not become a friend of Hands Up for Trad<\/a><\/strong>. In addition to our high profile events like the Scots Trad Music Awards, we also deliver a less well known, education programme for young people from 8yrs right through to young adults at the start of their careers. Read more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congratulations to Williamwood Pipe Band who has \/ have been nominated in Scottish Pipe Band of the Year sponged by National Piping Centre in the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2026. Vote for Williamwood Pipe Band now! It’s going to be another great night at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards on Saturday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11366,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nominee-2026","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/files\/2026\/10\/Silver-Crest-with-Silver-Name-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11365"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11367,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11365\/revisions\/11367"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}