Save the date and bring all your family, friends and colleagues to our annual Fling at the Foundry.  It's a free concert to celebrate the spring and start of a new parade season.

​Hope to see you there!

Well done guys.

Johnny Reid came through town and wanted a couple drummers to perform. Well he got the best, and don't they look sharp!

Since 2012 (our band's 100th anniversary btw), March 10th has been set aside as a day to celebrate the world's greatest instrument - the BAGPIPE.

It's an opportunity to get out your pipes and play anywhere, anyhow to anyone!

This will be the 2nd year our band has gotten out to celebrate and like last year we'll be running around the city spreading the bagpipe cheer.

​The day will start off with pipe majors Rory and Peter visiting Danny-Laura Ckpr Mornings (apparently Peter has a special treat for them).

Then we'll be off and about town with the 'face-in-the-hole' piper and signs. Share your selfies with the band members on our page to win a prize!

Here's the tentative schedule for the day thus far:

• 08:30-09:15 - Robins on Arthur & TJ’s (corner of Arthur St and James St)
• 09:30-10:15 - Canadian Tire (Arthur St)
• 10:30-10:45 - Comfort Inn, Mr. Lube and Harley Davidson (Arthur St)
• 10:45-11:15 - McDonald's (Arthur St)
• 11:30 - Braun Family Chiropractic, Edward Jones, Co-operators
• 11:30-12:15 - Safeway (Arthur St)
• 12:30-01:30 - Confederation College (upstairs, just outside the cafeteria)
• 01:45-02:30 - Lakehead University (just outside at main entrance or the next doors down)
• 02:45-03:30 - Home Depot
• 03:45-04:30 - Chapters and Starbucks entrance
• 04:45-05:30 - Calico / Hoito
• 05:30+ - Madhouse

Hope to see you around town!

It was great to welcome home Krista McCarville and her teammates after winning silver at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Pipe band performances, highland dancing, sociables, and awesome food! Join us on Saturday, April 25th at 2:00 pm for a free performance at The Foundry (224 Red River Road). Donations gladly accepted at the door. Please note that there is limited seating. All ages are welcome! See you there!

THE Pipes and Drums of Thunder Bay is holding an open house and free concert this Thursday, April 2, starting at 7:00 pm at the Elk's Lodge on Syndicate Ave. Please join us for an evening of photos and memorabilia, a performance by the band, a glimpse into what our Thursday practices are like, games and interactive activities, and of course, some refreshments! Hope to see you there!

THE Pipes and Drums of Thunder Bay is excited to celebrate International Bagpipe Day. International Bagpipe Day is celebrated every year on March 10 as a day to recognize bagpipes and piping traditions. 

Be sure to listen to 91.5 CKPR on Tuesday morning (7:00 - 8:00) as our pipe majors, Rory and Pete, teach Danny and Laura how to play the pipes. 

Then keep an eye out for a 7ft cutout of a piper throughout the day as it makes its way around the city. If you find it, take a photo with it and post that photo to our Facebook page for a chance to win a gift certificate to the Red Lion Smokehouse. 

Meet us at the Red Lion Smokehouse at 8:30 pm for some piping and celebration! We hope to see you all there!

THE Pipes and Drums of Thunder Bay  just capped off an impressive 2014 parade season with their annual trek to the renowned ‘Apple Festival’ in Bayfield, Wisconsin.

 Hailed as the “Best Festival in Wisconsin” by Wisconsin Trails Magazine and one of the “10 Best Specialty Food Festivals in the Nation” by USA TODAY, the annual Apple Festival is a celebration of the autumn harvest and Bayfield’s agricultural heritage as stated by the Bayfield chamber of commerce. And since 1985, the celebrations have incorporated The Pipes and Drums of Thunder Bay as the key musical group and an expected ‘barn storming’ force on the Saturday before the official Sunday parade.

Driving the five and a half hours after work on Friday in a motley caravan of musicians, the band arrived and stayed at  their place of billet, Bayfield High School , home of the ‘Trollers’.  The weather was daunting as the drive quickly turned from a nice autumn trek to white out blizzard conditions, making the roads extremely difficult; just another challenge for Thunder Bay northerners though, the band pushed on.  They supplant themselves as honorary citizens of Bayfield during the 48 hour festival, and indeed have had the title officially bestowed upon them years before.

On Saturday, The Pipes and Drums woke early for their first parade to a very rainy typical Superior morning.  They played at the Port Superior Marina for an impassioned crowd of over a hundred and fifty raincoat, umbrella-toting, and smiley faced patrons in the rain.  After the performance they enjoyed conversation with the local sailors and swapped stories of Lake Superior and fickle weather during this title sponsors concert.  The Sunday parade is an explosion of people as the little harbour town swells to over fifty thousand visitors from around the Midwest during this 3 day festival. 


Before playing the queen of the apple festival down Main Street to her coronation ceremony on Saturday night, the band ‘crashes’ one of Wisconsin’s most decorated Victorian establishments, the Old Rittenhouse Inn, and treats the restaurant guests to a mini concert.  Getting up and close to the patrons both in the restaurant and downtown is an expected treat as the Thunder Bay players pride themselves on community outreach and promoting not only their music but the community of Thunder Bay as well.

Not to be left until last, the band’s ardent supporters Mr. Jon Nelson and The Port Superior Marina, must be recognised and lauded, as logistically moving a volunteer pipe band of thirty players is no easy feat.  The band is extremely proud of having a sister city-like connection with Bayfield and its remarkable apple festival that annually defies the odds of small town tourism. 

From playing in apple orchards, on top of bar tops, on sail boats, in Venetian boat parades, at resident’s homes, in the parks and the extremely popular barn dance put on by the districts voluntary firefighters, the band has thoroughly enjoyed the comradery with Bayfield over the past twenty nine years.  They look forward to ending their parade season each year sharing what Thunder Bay has to offer our friends south of the border.
(Rory Bain)