Na Píobairí Uilleann

Chairman, NPU

An Píobaire

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7 5 15 20111214 15 T HE FIRST (hopefully of many!) INTERNA- TIONAL UILLEANN PIPING DAY took place on October 15th. The idea behind the day long series of events was threefold: cel- ebrate the uilleann pipes globally, publicise the activities of NPU through our many members in around the world, and help to introduce a wider audience to the pipes. In the initial con- tact with members we requested only that whatever activity was organised would take place in a public venue so as to encourage in- terest from the general public. Other than that we were not proscriptive about what was or- ganised. This was important as we wanted members to decide locally what would work best for them. Obviously, since we had never organised something like this before, we were approach- ing the idea very much as a pilot, and would have been pleased if half a dozen groups got involved first time round. However the concept seemed to resonate with many around the world, and in a very short space of time, mem- bers began to commit to organising events for the day. NPU staff assisted with press releases and additional information about the many ini- tiatives we’re involved in. What became very clear early on was the geo- graphic scope of the events. In the end activi- ties took place in the following locations: * UK: South Wales and Manchester; * USA: Chicago, Southern California, Salt Lake City * Canada: Quebec * Europe: Belgium, South of France * Havana, Cuba * Singapore * Ireland: Dublin, Armagh, Belfast, Derry, Achill, Galway, Waterford, Athlone, Wexford. Events ranged from recitals and concerts to reed making and teaching. A couple of groups also did some fund-raising on the day. There were others who with perhaps a bit more time would have also put something together, but are already thinking ahead to next year. To those who did host an event, suffice to say that without their efforts we would not be celebrat- ing the success of the day. A big part of the success was the use of social media. From very early on we had an active FACEBOOK page, which, with regular updates kept everyone informed about what was hap- pening and allowed members to post mes- sages/make comments directly. Logging onto the page, it was possible to see the day gradu- ally come together, as each event was posted; there was a great sense of a building momen- tum as we got closer to the 15th. From Henri- etta Street on the day we also had some live streaming of the different activities taking place, and were able to feed in questions or comments from those watching to those per- forming. A huge vote of thanks is due to Gerry Lyons and Sandie Purcell for organis- ing and updating the social media side of the event. So where to from here? The aim is to make the event an annual one, and with a bit more time for planning, involve even more members and locations; we could perhaps generate more ad- vance publicity for the event as well, and ex- plore video/internet link-ups on the day. The FACEBOOK page is still active, so please post your ideas and suggestions for next year! facebook.com/uilleannpipingday. Ken Lynam Board member (See photographs on following pages) ~ International Uilleann Piping Day ~

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