The shrill of the pipes are set to return to the grounds of Cookstown High School next month
The distinctive shrill of the bagpipes return to Cookstown next month for the 71st Ulster Pipe Band & Drum Major Championships.
Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association Northern Ireland Branch in conjunction with RSPBA Mid Ulster Section and with the support of Mid Ulster District are behind the championships.
The event will take place in the fantastic grounds of Cookstown High School, a few minutes from the town centre, and will take place on Saturday August 3 from 10am.
Chair of Mid Ulster District Council, Councillor Eugene McConnell said: “I am pleased to see the return of the Ulster Pipe Band and Drum Major Championship 2024 to Cookstown this August.
"Celebrating their 71st year of this championship competition, it is always a highly anticipated and successful event, bringing competitors and spectatorsfrom far and wide to Mid Ulster and I look forward to welcoming them to our district.”
RSPBANI Chairperson, Alastair Patterson said: “Following our announcement earlier in the season that support for this year’s Ulster Championships had been withdrawn quite late in the day, we immediately started work to find a replacement.
"With help from a number of Branch and Section colleagues we were able to secure a venue for this year’s event to take place and I am delighted that the 2024 Ulster Championships is coming to Cookstown on Saturday August 3 and in particular, to the popular Cookstown High School venue."
RSPBANI Mid Ulster Section Chairperson, Mr Trevor Wilson said: "We in the Mid Ulster Section are very pleased to see another contest in our district this year and we look forward to welcoming the bands, drum majors and spectators back to Cookstown High School again this summer.
"Along with our Branch colleagues, we are collectively indebted to Mid Ulster District Council for supporting this second event in the 2024 season which was at shorter notice than we usually plan for. Without the support of Council, the event would not have been possible.
"My sincere thanks also go to the Principal of Cookstown High School for once again allowing the sound of the pipe and drums and the spectacle of our Drum Majors to fill the air around the school, a simply wonderful venue for pipe bands right in the heart of Ulster.”