Last call for Newcastleton Piping Comps Sat 2 July 2011
When I was asked to judge these again this year I said I was happy to do so if the Festival Committee were happy to continue with them, given the recent low turnouts for both Border and Northumbrian pipes classes. The Committee are willing to give them one more go. On the minus side, it is a competition. On the plus side, it has the most music-friendly rules of any of the Border piping competitions (of which it is one of the oldest) and follows the ethos of many Northumbrian piping competitions in that it asks for two contrasting tunes rather than something defined by a time limit. Also, although not made explicit on the website, the 'Border pipes' category at Newcastleton traditionally includes Scottish smallpipes. [1]http://www.newcastleton.com/rules.html It is also a good place to be on a Summer's day, with sessions, concerts, dances and walks by the river. After last year's piping comps all the pipers got together for a friendly blether and blaw, and this is something which can continue. The weather was great last year, though I should perhaps mention the possibility of midges. -- References 1. http://www.newcastleton.com/rules.html To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
