Next Saturday will see Gilnahirk take to the grass for the first time in 2014 at the City of Lisburn Pipe Band Championships. For those who want to come and cheer along, the contest information can be found here.

It has been a hard Winter for the Band with the loss of our Pipe Major, Ricky Newell, tearing a huge hole in the fabric of Gilnahirk.

However, the project of rebuilding Gilnahirk which Ricky had been a central part of was always bigger than any individual.

New Pipe Major, Carson Tate, has stepped up to the mark and spent many hours with the Band, tuning, teaching, reviewing video practices and inspiring players to push themselves harder than ever before. As a result, the Band will be out for the first contest of the domestic season - something which has proved impossible to manage for several years.

The run of poor weather has made it difficult to secure outdoor practice time, but this weekend the Band stepped into the (comparative) sunshine and spent three hours or so, working on ensemble effect and tuning in a more realistic competition environment. Although we can never replicate the thrill of the walk to the line, this sort of "dry run" is a massive boost to preparation.

Of course, the (now traditional) refreshments went down pretty well too.

If you want to be part of Gilnahirk, why not come and see us at the Hall on Monday nights from 8pm, or email us here?

The Band is scheduled to play at Lisburn at 12.15pm - see you there!!