SFU Pipe Band Wins 2026 World Pipe Band Championships

The Simon Fraser University Pipe Band from British Columbia has won the 2026 World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, capturing its seventh Grade 1 global title after a 17-year wait. The 45-member Canadian band secured the championship on Saturday, August 15, at Glasgow Green, marking the first time since 2010 that a band from outside the United Kingdom has won the event.

The victory concludes a long pursuit for the SFU band, which had not won the title since 2009. Pipe Major Alan Bevan, the band’s musical leader, expressed overwhelming satisfaction with the result. "It feels great. It’s hard to overstate how wonderful it feels," Bevan said in an interview. The band had placed third in 2024 and fourth in 2025 after several previous fifth-place finishes, making this year’s success a significant breakthrough.

More than 200 bands from 14 countries competed across two days, with 13 groups in the elite Grade 1 category. The SFU band placed seventh in Friday’s opening event before winning the next three competitions to secure the overall title. The Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band from Northern Ireland finished as runners-up for the fourth consecutive year, followed by...