A single bagpipe can sound reverent or romantic, soulful or positively joyous.

But put a few dozen bagpipes together at the Saline Celtic Festival and there’s only one word to describe the sound: majestic.

Make those two words: majestic and loud.

Seven bands in all, including two first-time participants, will compete and perform at this year’s festival. They are the Ann Arbor Pipe Band, Caber Feidh Pipe Band, Detroit Shrine Highlanders Pipe Band, Kalamazoo Pipe Band, Glen Erin Pipe Band, and Muskegon Police Pipes & Drums, and The White Pine Pipe Band.

The bands will march in the 10 a.m. parade and then perform en masse at the opening ceremonies at Mill Pond Park at 11 a.m. The Solo Pipe and Drum Competition begins at noon and continues at 20-minute intervals throughout the day.

"At 12:20 and every hour thereafter, the bands will pause and turn over the spotlight to Jim McEwen’s sheep dogs," says Festival board member and pipe band chair Jim Roth. At 20 minutes past the hour, the dogs will course across the lawn, herding sheep and ducks.

The two somewhat incongruous events were alternated last year with success, so the mix continues. Two pipe bands, followed by a scramble of galloping and bleating sheep. Then more bands. Then another dog, herding not only sheep but ducks.

You have to be there!

The pipe and drum events culminate at 4 p.m. with the Wee Folk parade, when the seven pipe bands lead children and families in a parade across the park. Everyone is invited to join in.

The pipe bands participating this year span a large range of experience:

• The Muskegon Police Pipes & Drums Band was formed 2002 in Muskegon, and performs in many functions and special events throughout Western Michigan. The band is not limited to police officers, and welcomes experienced and beginners. The band wears the ancient Hume tartan, honoring one of Muskegon’s early civic leaders, Thomas Hume. .
• The Ann Arbor Pipes & Drums draws its member from across the southern third of Michigan. Formed in 1993, the group quickly evolved from a group of dedicated enthusiasts to a Grade IV competition band that ranked in the Midwest Pipe Band Association and traveled to Glasgow, Scotland.
• The Kalamazoo Pipe Band marks its 40th anniversary this year, begun in 1964 by a Scottish emigrant who taught piping fundamentals to the first group of learners in his basement. An association of women and men was formed which lasts to this day, gathering to play a wide repertoire of marches, waltzes, jigs and slow airs.
• Caber Feidh, the Detroit Shriners, Glen Erin and White Pine pipe bands also combine musicians of eclectic backgrounds and a shared love of Celtic music. The performances as well as solo piping and drumming competition will also continue throughout the day, with medals and trophies to be awarded in several divisions.

For more on the pipe bands, sheep dog demonstrations and other Festival events, visit the Web site, www.salineceltic.org.

The Muskegon Police Pipes & Drums Band will be featured at this year’s Celtic Festival in scenic Mill Pond Park.