The piper's tune has been written especially to remember the victims.
"It's going to be quite an emotional time, a big day," said Mr Monk, whose son Michael died in the blast.
"The Campbell family have come back from Scotland, as well as families from Australia.
"There's also a lot of Pike River workers who have returned for this because they're still quite moved by what has happened. They just want to be part of it as well."
He said the second anniversary was a chance to honour his son who he "desperately wants home".
Mr Monk has been integral in leading calls to recover the trapped bodies.
Earlier this month he hosted a group of international mine safety experts who spent a week investigating how the bodies could be recovered and have concluded it can happen.
A report has since been passed on to the Government as well as the mine's new owners, Solid Energy.
Prime Minister John Key, who is out of the country, said in a statement that his thoughts were with the people of the West Coast today.
"There is no comfort in my words for the families of those who died, as they are still living this tragedy day after day," he said.
"However it is fitting and right that we remember that it was this day two years ago that 29 men lost their lives.
"I am thinking of the families and the people of the West Coast today. New Zealand has immense sympathy for their continuing grief."
Grey District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn said the tragedy was still "raw in everyone's minds".
"The West Coast community is very tight-knit, with a lot of community spirit," he said.
"We're moving on but we're doing it in a sensitive way so we don't forget the 29 men still lying up in that mountain.
"The families will be up there today with their thoughts but the community will be right behind them."
The family's private ceremony will be followed by a public memorial at the Blackball Worker's Museum at 6pm.
* Visit our remembrance page for the Pike River miners here.
