WORLD class pipe bands will play in Helenburgh next June when one of the top events in the piping circuit comes to the town.

The Helensburgh Bicentenary Pipe Band Championships have been awarded hosting rights for the West of Scotland Pipe Band Championships by the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association.

The event, on Sunday June 23, will take place at East King Street Park, and will bring hundreds of bandsmen, their families and supporters to the town. The Bicentenary Pipe Band Championships will take place along with the West of Scotland event.

The event will include the reigning world and European Grade 1 champions, Inveraray and District, and reigning British Grade 1 champions Scottish Power, making it the first time that Grade 1 bands have competed in Helensburgh.

The BPC have been awarded a lottery grant of £6,000 from Awards for All Scotland to help fund this spectacular event and to hold its Highland dancing competition at the park along with the pipe band events.

The BPC raised more than £4,000 in 2018 through a ceilidh at the Commodore Hotel; bag packs at Helensburgh and Balloch’s Co-op stores; performances by Helensburgh Clan Colquhoun Pipe Band and donations from local businesses and supermarkets.