A local band has invited dozens of fellow bagpipers to join a day filled with music and mingling.

Coeur d’Alene Firefighters Pipes and Drums will host the second Gathering of the Bands at 12:30 p.m. June 22 at the Coeur d’Alene City Park.

Jessica Bryant, pipe major of the band, began playing the bagpipes as a high school student in Minnesota, where she played with a police pipe band. Bryant played competitively for a few years throughout the Midwest and Canada. She has taught the bagpipes for almost 25 years.

Bryant, who moved to Coeur d’Alene in 2000, helped create her band with drum sergeant Chad Matchell in 2009.

The bagpipe gathering will provide an afternoon of free entertainment and a way for bagpipers to connect.

“This event offers several things to the community,” Bryant said. “Renewed exposure to a culture that has historical ties here. An educational event for youth and adults who may not have been exposed to Highland piping and drumming.”

The band is always looking to add more musicians. Band members teach lessons for free, and, although prior music experience can help, it’s not required.

“While we are the support band for the Cd’A Firefighters honor guard, we are a community band and members do not have to be firefighters,” Bryant said. “Learning bagpipes poses numerous challenges. It’s important to really want to do it, commit to practicing, and have some patience with yourself.”

Brian Shiplett, a member of Coeur d’Alene Firefighters Pipes and Drums, has been playing the bagpipes since 1966. His mother has roots in Scotland, and after hearing the bagpipes on television he wanted to learn how to play. “Playing bagpipes is like playing golf in that you never play as well as you would like to. It is always a challenge,” Shiplett said.

He said the band has two top requests: “Scotland the Brave” and “Amazing Grace.”

The bagpipe is a wind instrument, made up of two or more single or double-reed pipes. The reeds are set in motion from air fed by arm pressure on a rubberized-cloth or animal-skin bag. The pipes are held in wooden sockets tied into the bag, which is filled by mouth or by bellows.

A “decent set” of bagpipes, Bryant said, can cost about $1,500; they tend to hold their value.

The event is informal: People may come and go as they please. Bryant said people should bring lawn chairs. In case of rain, the bands will perform under the picnic shelter; viewers should bring umbrellas.

Bands can sign up online at www.cdaffpd.org/band-info. Bands must RSVP by June 1.