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Any advice welcome !

Normally I would think this is a little busy (with the crowd) but the narrative reflected by this image clearly shows some sort of parade. Good HDR as well.

I'm not a fan of HDR. Usually perceive it as a cliche and a pityful attempt to give interest to an otherwise uninteresting image; which yours is NOT. As an informal portrait it's excellent, even with the jumbled background. I ignore the equipment used but my advice would be to use a lower ISO, a larger aperture and a longer lens, in order to separate the subject from the background, and let the image stand out by itself, forget the fotochop FX. You might be able to save it with a Levels and Gaussian Blur vignette.

I think the last guy pick up on it. The crowd (especially the woman with the red sweater taking a picture). It distracts. Try layering and fading every thing to b/w except the guy with the bagpipes. This should focus the eye and eliminate distractions.

I have tried to put into action your advices... I have roughly applied them on another shot...

I suppose it boils down to one thing Lombard… Do you wish the viewers of this image to see only the man playing bagpipes or… a man in a parade playing bagpipes? I guess it’s just hard for me to discern the people in the background of this photo as “distractions”. They’re an important part of the story to me.

As far as someone disliking HDR goes… most people are completely oblivious to the fact that an ever-increasing number of the images they see everyday are in fact HDR. Apparently, even while they’re stumbling around in the digital alterations forum!

Have a great day!