Vienna Pipes 2025 Burns Night Event

Vienna Pipes

When: Sat 18 January 2025 6:30 PM – 11:55 PM CET

Where: Pfarrhalle St Florian, Wiedner Hauptstraße 97, Wien, 1050

The Vienna Pipes and Drums bagpipe band is hosting its twelfth Burns Supper on Saturday 18 January 2025. We offer a packed programme with traditional Scottish food, music, poetry, and dance, all in homage to Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns.

The €40 ticket price includes a dinner of real Scottish haggis and tatties (a vegetarian alternative is available). Our haggis is made by an award-winning butcher in the Scottish highlands. As always, we will have a well stocked bar serving a wide range of Scottish single malt whiskies. We’ll also have plenty of live music for you and a live Scottish ceilidh band (https://www.facebook.com/alastair.cz/) to dance along to later on in the evening.

The doors and bar will be open from 18:30, with the official start of the festivities at 19:00.

Tickets will go on sale on our ticket website on Saturday 14th December at 12:00 (midday). Expect them to sell out fast!

Buy your tickets here on our Ticket Sales Website

Vienna Pipes and Drums 2024 Ceilidh

Vienna Pipes

When: Fri 8 November 2024 19:30 – 23:45 CET

Where: VHS PAHO, Ada-Christen-Gasse 2,1100 Wien

The much-loved Vienna “St Andrews Night” Ceilidh is back, for the first time since 2022!

Vienna Pipes and Drums and the organisers of the legendary Vienna International School (VIS) Ceilidh have come together for the first time to host “probably the best night of the year” for the city’s fans of Scottish music and dance.

Colin Campbell, piper, band member, and former VIS teacher, started the VIS Ceilidh in 1985 and the Vienna Pipes and Drums have been proud performers at many of the school events. November was always the month of the traditional Scottish Ceilidh (full original title: “The Late St. Andrews Night Ceilidh”!). This year the Ceilidh returns for the 38th time with a new location in Vienna’s 10th district, but with the same winning format. Gather your friends and join us for a fabulous evening of live music and traditional dancing with our Scottish ceilidh band!

There will be a cash bar, a fine range of Scotch whiskys, and snacks available to buy. All proceeds go to Vienna rugby and the Vienna Pipes and Drums.

The 2024 Ceilidh will be held in the Veranstaltungszentrum PAHO, easily accessible via public transport.

Tickets are on sale for €25 from our online shop: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/viennapipesanddrums/1371399.

There will be a small number of tickets for sale on the door, for the slightly higher price of €30. Buy online in advance to avoid disappointment!

Vienna St Patrick’s Day Parade 2024

Vienna Pipes

When: Sat 16 March 2024 11:00 AM – 12:45 PM CET

Where: Schottenkirche, Wien, 1010

The Vienna Pipes and Drums bagpipe band will be playing again in the annual Vienna St Patrick’s Day Parade.

Vienna Pipes and Drums will once again play as part of the annual Vienna St. Patrick’s Day parade. This year the parade will take place on Saturday, 16 March 2024.

Assemble at 11:00 at the Schottenkirche, the parade will start at 11:30.

Route: Schottenstift/Freyung – Herrengasse – Michaelerplatz – Schauflergasse – Ballhausplatz – Löwelstraße – Josef Meinrad-Platz (Burgtheater).

The parade finishes at the Burgtheater at about 12:45 with a few tunes, and closing remarks by Ambassador O’Leary. A great chance to see the band playing through the streets of Vienna city centre!

Vienna Pipes 2024 Burns Night Event

Vienna Pipes

When: Fri 16 Feb 2024 6:30 PM – 11:55 PM CET

Where: Pfarrhalle St Florian, Wiedner Hauptstraße 97, Wien, 1050

The Vienna Pipes and Drums bagpipe band is hosting its eleventh Burns Supper on Friday 16 February 2024. We offer a packed programme with traditional Scottish food, music, poetry, and dance, all in homage to Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns.

The €40 ticket price includes a dinner of real Scottish haggis and tatties (vegetarian haggis is available). Our haggis is made by an award-winning butcher in the Scottish highlands. As always, we will have a well stocked bar serving a wide range of Scottish single malt whiskies. We’ll also have plenty of live music for you and a live Scottish ceilidh band (https://www.facebook.com/alastair.cz/) to dance along to later on in the evening.

The doors and bar will be open from 18:30, with the official start of the festivities at 19:00.

Tickets will go on sale on our ticket website on Saturday 6th January at 12:00 (midday). Expect them to sell out fast!

Buy your tickets here on our Ticket Sales Website

Vienna Pipes 2023 Whisky Tasting Event

Vienna Pipes
Whisky Tasting 2023 Banner

When: Sat 2 Dec 2023 7:30 PM – 11:55 PM CET

Where: Pfarrhalle St Florian, Wiedner Hauptstraße 97, Wien, 1050

Vienna Pipes and Drums will be holding their annual Whisky Tasting fundraiser on Saturday 2nd December 2023.

Join the band for an evening of music, craic and fine single malt Scotch whisky! We will have a range of whiskies from all around Scotland for you to sample, as well as a cash bar selling beer, wine, soft drinks and snacks.

Tickets are €40 and allow you to sample as many whiskies as you wish (drinks and snacks from the bar are not included). All proceeds go to supporting the band with tuition, instruments, and competition travel.

Buy your tickets here on our Ticket Sales Website

Summer 2023 In Review

Vienna Pipes
Vienna Pipes and Drums at the Belgian Pipe Band Championships 2023

The Vienna Pipes and Drums band have had a busy summer, and despite the soaring temperatures we have been donning our kilts and playing traditional Scottish bagpipe music at a wide range of events.

On Saturday 9th September we were were proud to be the first-ever Austrian pipe band to compete at the annual Belgian Pipe Band Championships, part of the Scottish Weekend in Alden Biesen. The “Schots Weekend” has been running since 1986, and has on occasion hosted the European Bagpipe Championships. The band competed in Grade 4 (March), Grade 3 (MSR), and Open Grade (Medley), playing in fierce sunshine and temperatures of nearly 30 degrees! The standard of the northern European bands is high, and we were lucky to play against some very talented pipe bands. While we did not bring home any prizes this year, we were satisfied with our performance and we received positive feedback from the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association judges.

Earlier in the year were proud to play at Coronation celebrations for King Charles III at the UK Embassies in Vienna and Bratislava, the annual IAEA ball in the Vienna Hofburg, the Vienna St. Patrick’s Day parade, our own Burns Night fundraiser, and at a number of birthdays, weddings, and other private events. Together with friends from the Salzburg Rampant Lion Pipe Band we held a fantastic teaching workshop with world-class piper and composer Ross Ainslie.

Before the year is out we will be playing at our annual Whisky Tasting Fundraiser on the 2nd December.

The Band Teaching Programme for new pipers and drummers has been going from strength to strength. If you are interested in learning the Great Highland Bagpipe or Scottish drumming, please contact us!

2022 World Pipe Band Championships

Vienna Pipes

Vienna Pipes at Worlds 2022

On 13 August Vienna Pipes were back at the World Pipe Championships in Glasgow for the first time since 2019. We competed in Grade 4B against 27 bands from Scotland, Northern Ireland, Eire, Australia, Canada and Israel. This was the band’s 4th trip to the “Worlds”.

Unfortunately we didn’t qualify for the final this year, but the band played well and we received good feedback on our performance. We were proud to represent Vienna and to be the only band from continental Europe at the World championships.

It has been hard work building the band back up after the Coronavirus lockdowns, and it was a fantastic experience to be back on Glasgow Green meeting old friends and listening to the best pipe bands in the world. We plan to compete again in 2023. Experienced pipers and drummers interesting in joining the compeition band are always welcome!

Here’s a recording of our performance.

Peine 2022 Competition

Vienna Pipes

The Vienna Pipes and Drums Pipe Band are back from a very enjoyable competition weekend at the Highland Gathering Peine 2022 near Hannover. This was our first competition performance since before the pandemic, and a chance to get back in shape for our return to the Glasgow World Pipe Band Championships this August. The band performed in the Grade 4 March, Grade 4 MSR, and Grade 3 Medley compeitions.

Our solo competitors also did well, with drummers Andy, Peter and Patrick taking places 1, 2 and 3 in the intermediate drumming, and piper Stefan taking 3rd place in the Grade 2 MSR, and 2nd place in the Grade 2 Hornpipe/Jig.

Here’s a recording of our Grade 4 March performance, where we placed 4th out of 12 bands. Congratulations to the prize winners Lakeside Alliance Pipe Band, Crest of Gordon and Beatrix Pipe Band.

Vienna Pipes back from lockdown!

Vienna Pipes

We are are very pleased to announced that Vienna Pipes and Drums are back in action! We stayed busy during the lockdown(s) with weekly Zoom practises, and were very happy to resume regular band practices at the end of May.

Practices are run according to the 3-G–Regel (“geimpft, getestet, genesen”) and we are unfortunately not yet able to allow any visitors at our practices – we hope this can change soon.

The band has also resumed performances and we have played several private gigs in the last months. If you would like to hire the band for an event, you can find more information here.

Learn the Bagpipes or Scottish Drums!

Interested in learning to play the Great Highland Bagpipe or Scottish drumming? We have also resumed our free teaching programme. Our learner group meets on Wednesdays from 17:00-18:00 at the Pfarrsaal der Pfarre St. Florian, Wiedner Hauptstraße 97, 1050, Vienna. You don’t need to buy or bring anything at the start. We will provide practice chanters, drums sticks, drum pads, and learning materials. You also don’t need bagpipes or a drum — that comes later, after you have learned some tunes.

Teaching is free for young learners! If you decide you like it, you pay a yearly fee of €80 for membership of the band. Adult beginners are also welcome, though depending on your musical experience and progress you may also need to take private lessons. Several band members are experienced tutors and can offer paid tuition on the bagpipes and Scottish drumming.

More experienced pipers and drummers are always very welcome to join the band. The band is preparing for a return to competitions, with a return trip to the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow planned in August 2022. Join now to be a part of it!

More information here.