More than 30 pipe bands from Australia and New Zealand will compete over two days at Eureka Stadium on April 12 and 13.

The competition will begin with a street march from the Ballarat Town Hall at 9am. It will then move to Eureka Stadium for the dual element contest. 

“We expect around 600 musicians. The competition will bring about 1500 people to Ballarat,” said Federation University Australia Pipe Band president Tim Bodey.

“There will be a massed band that combines all pipe bands for a grand finale on each day, which sounds and looks amazing.

“It is a bigger massed band than they have at the Edinburgh Tattoo.”

The current grade one champion, the Western Australia Police Pipe Band, will compete at the event following a live concert on the Friday night at the Regent Theatre.

The Federation University band has won the grade three division on three occasions while its number two band is the reigning grade four champion. 

The event will include the drum major flourish and highland dancing.

Ballarat will host the championships, which occur every second year, for the second successive time.

The event ties coincides with the Ballarat Whisk(e)y Experience at the Jackson and Co hotel and the Scottish Australia Exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ballarat over the same weekend. 

All money raised at the gate will be donated to the Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute.

AT A GLANCE

WHAT: Australian and South Pacific Pipe Band Championships

WHERE: Eureka Stadium

WHEN: April 12 to 13

HOW MUCH: gold coin

INFORMATION: australianpipebandchampionships.com.au