B.C.’s Simon Fraser University wins world pipe band championship in Scotland

Simon Fraser University's pipe band is shown in this handout photo after they won the Grade 1 global title at the World Pipe Band Championships held in Glasgow, Scotland, on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Glasgow Life (Mandatory Credit)

Simon Fraser University has another championship to pipe up about.

On Saturday, the Canadian university’s pipe band won the Grade 1 global title at the World Pipe Band Championships held in Glasgow, Scotland.

It’s the seventh time the band has claimed the title, and the first since 2009.

Led by Pipe Major Alan Bevan, Pipe Sergeant Craig Sutherland, and lead drummer J. Reid Maxwell, the band won three of the competition’s four events.

Bevan said the band feels “absolutely elated and humbled” to have won.

“The standard of play in the top grade is so high, and there are so many excellent bands, several of whom could win on any given day, that we feel very fortunate to have come out on top this year,” he wrote in an email.

“The fact that it has been so long since we last won the title makes it extra special!”

It’s the first time since 2010 that a band from outside the U.K. has won the world championship.

More than 200 bands from 14 countries — including Australia, Malaysia and Sweden — took part in the competition.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 17, 2026.

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press