On the 11th and 14th of August 2022 the Pipers and Pipe Band Society of Ontario Ottawa branch hosted 
their live viewing of the Piping Live event in Scotland. On the 11th the night started at 7 pm at the
Vimy Brewing Company of Ottawa, we were greeted by the board members of the PPBSO.

Since this event was more of a casual event I  decided to wear my yellow PPBSO shirt that had the
logo on it. Me and my girlfriend Melisa had trouble finding the brewery since it is one of over 11 
units situated at 830 Industrial Ave. As we got in, we quickly introduced ourselves to everyone. 
We were surprised to find out that all 15 PPBSO board members were there as well as the brewery’s
bartender and owner. Since the event was streaming live we had to wait for the content to load as well
as wait for the Bagpipers to finish tuning between music sets. Throughout the night we were generously
offered chips and the option to get food delivered since we thought dinner would be provided within 
the 10$(each) we paid to get in. 

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On the 14th you had the option to go to the 2nd event at 9:30 am and/or the 3rd event at 2:30 in which
I attended both but my girlfriend Melisa couldn’t book off work in time to join for both sessions. 
Once arrived at the event the owner of the brewery had everything set up ahead of time as opposed to 
when the PPBSO and everyone else arrived on Thursday. Once inside, we had to hurry up to take are seats
because we didn’t have any lead way to settle in before the live started. The live started with the host
explaining who was playing & what the order of the tunes and styles of tunes would be played. We were 
surprised to find out that Andrea Boyd, one of the top graded players in the Ottawa Valley was playing 
at Piping Live(so we are bias when it came to betting on witch player will win the competition) The host
followed by shouting us out and everyone in the Ottawa branch of the PPBSO for partnering, we help produce
ads, shout outs and we also recommend to players that played at the Glengarry Highland Games that if you're
ever going to Scotland that you should sign up for it. 

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We also were raising money for the event, half for us and half for Piping Live. Once the fist session was
over at noon, the society had provided lunch which included Haggis, Neeps and Tatties! Most of the members
of the Society said they had plans in between both of the sessions so I was left with the bartender to 
finish this blog. We were also given cards with a QR link to a questionnaire about are opinions on  
the live, the atmosphere and any suggestions for future events.(I suggested the World Pipe Band
Championships if we can find a location or business that is willing to open at 5 am since it will
be 9 am UK time and I also suggested having Pot Luck with it!) We were also given a commemorative cup
to celebrate the occasion.

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The final session for Piping Live was at 2:30 pm. This time I was not a competition but folk music played by the internationally renowned Fred Morrison Trio. The trio played some traditional Irish music on the uilleann bagpipes, an Irish version where the blow stick is replaced with an inflatable bag. He also played traditional Nova Scotian music, covers of songs of famous singers like Bon Jovi and also some improvised/original tunes. 

Despite the long viewing sessions(each session is about 3h long) it was incredible to see all
these talented musicians hard work since the shoot down of the pandemic. I wouldn’t hesitate to come 
back year after year.