If you’ve ever been within earshot of the Lonsdale corridor around quittin’ time on a Friday, you’ve surely heard North Vancouver’s Pink Pied Piper.
Every Friday at 5 p.m., Frank Wimberley dons his pink regalia, puffs up the bellows of his bagpipes and parades down Lonsdale Avenue, heralding the arrival of the weekend.
“It’s become quite the hit. People often come out from their patios, and they’ll say ‘We love it. It tells us when we can stop work on a Friday afternoon, shut the computer down and grab a glass of wine,’” he said.
Like many costumed characters, the Pink Pied Piper comes with an origin story. In Wimberley’s case, it was wearing a brown uniform every day while serving in South Africa’s military that “did something to [his] head.”
“I started wearing something – anything – other than brown. It was kind of frowned upon at the time for men wearing pink, so I said, ‘Well, I’ve been told what to wear for two years. I’m going to do what I want,’” he said.
“In the early days, I was very pleased to have a good bunch of friends and mates who would look out for me in the pubs, and I could run faster than them, so that was a big advantage,” he added with a laugh.
The Pink Pied Piper persona came after he’d moved to North Vancouver and joined the JP Fell Pipe Band. Around that same time, he began conquering the Trans Canada Trail on his bicycle, one region of the country at a time.
Back the bad old days of the pandemic, when most of us were shut inside except for a 7 p.m. cheer for front-line workers, Wimberley was playing his heart out outside Lions Gate Hospital.
Though not everyone loves the dulcet drone of the bagpipes, over the years, Wimberley has found they have a way of uplifting spirits.
“I just love the joy that I see on the faces of the folk that pass. You know, 99 per cent of the time, particularly with the kids, they somehow love it and every now and then, I’ll get one or two kids who burst into tears,” he said.
(Tears of joy, Wimberley is quick clarify.)
This August, Wimberley is taking his pipes on a Winnipeg-Toronto cycling tour to raise funds for the two artistic endeavours he’s most passionate about. Money raised through the GoFundMe.com campaign will go to the Robert Malcolm Memorial Youth Pipe Band, which feeds into the world-renowned SFU Pipe Band, and to Word Vancouver, the literary festival where Wimberley goes to recite the poetry he composes while huffing and puffing his way across the country.
There’s no shortage of people who ride long distances to raise money for one good cause or another, and Wimberley admits his is “just a little bit on the wacky side.” But he said the pipes need some younger lungs blowing into them.
“The sad reality of it is we are running out of bagpipers,” he said. “In general, the bagpiping community is getting older, and so if we want to keep bagpipes going, we need to get younger folk excited about bagpipes.”
To support his efforts, North Vancouver’s Black Kettle Brewing has released a special edition Perambulating Pink Piper Pale Ale. Before you reach for a dictionary, Wimberley explains how “perambulating” made its way into his already long and alliterative title.
“[It’s] going from here to there or around about but not getting anywhere in a straight line and not making much good progress anyway, but that’s kind of how I see it,” he said with a laugh. “It’s turned out fantastically. It’s very nice. Finally, to have my own beer is quite an honour.”
To pay the piper, visit www.gofundme.com/f/pink-perambulating-piper-cycle-across-canada.
[email protected]
twitter.com/brentrichter
brentrichter.bsky.social
Want to stay updated on North Vancouver and West Vancouver news? Sign up for our free daily newsletter.
