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guild of town pipers skip to content guild of town pipers menu close home members membership news events festivals workshops resources open menu where waits historical records essays bibliography quotations notes queries music cognizances badges chains etc pictures reviews in memoriam reed making links about contact the international guild of town pipers the eleventh festival of the international guild of town pipers took place in york on 3rd 4th and 5th july 2026 photos and other information can be seen on the festivals page from medieval times up to the early 19th century every major british town and city employed a small band of musicians usually called waits their duties varied but they included playing their instruments through the town at night waking the townsfolk on dark winter mornings by playing under their windows welcoming important visitors by playing at the town gates and leading the mayor s procession on civic occasions the waits were required to play many different instruments but they were particularly known for loud wind instruments shawms curtals cornetts sackbutts bagpipes they were often attired in colourful liveries and in some cases wore silver chains what does a band of waits sound like here are the york waits playing a couple of popular 16th century tunes york waits dulcina and all you that love good fellows most continental european countries had their equivalents of waits in holland they were called stadspijpers in germany stadtpfeifer and in italy pifferi wikipedia abridged of all musical sounds that from day to day smote the ears of a sixteenth century town resident the deafening skirl of the shawm band in palace courtyard or market square must have been the most familiar anthony baines as a result of the municipal corporations act of 1835 waits were abolished in britain though their name lingered on as christmas waits who could be any group of singers or musicians who formed a band in order to sing and play carols for money around their town or village at night over the christmas period unfortunately it is these largely amateur musicians who have become associated in peoples minds with the name waits when they have heard of them at all rather than the important civic officers and accomplished musicians who were true waits with very few exceptions waits are no longer officially employed by town authorities but with the ever increasing interest in early music and historically informed performance many new bands of waits have formed there is a a growing pool of amateur and professional performers who specialise in the instruments typically used by the original waits they take great pains to research the music and the performing style and often adopt historical costume some are officially sanctioned by the towns they represent and are engaged on an occasional basis to provide colour and grandeur for public events the international guild of town pipers is a registered charity we exist to promote interest in the history and music of the waits and to encourage the formation of performing groups we maintain this website which has extensive information on the historical waits and the modern revivals every two years we organise a waits festival where multiple bands of waits gather for a weekend to meet swap ideas and perform search donate to the guild the guild on facebook sponsored by the early music shop igtp registered charity 1127315