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Event Information:
The
Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is
an annual series of Military tattoos
performed by British Armed Forces,
Commonwealth and International
military bands and display teams in
the Scottish capital Edinburgh. The
event takes place annually
throughout August, as part of the
wider Edinburgh Festival (a
collective name for many independent
festivals and events in Edinburgh in
August).
Now,
on average, just over 217,000 people
see the Tattoo live on the esplanade
of Edinburgh Castle each year, and
it has sold out in advance for the
last decade. 30% of the audience are
from Scotland and 35% from the rest
of the United Kingdom. The remaining
35% of the audience consists of
70,000 visitors from overseas. Only
the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is a
bigger part of the Edinburgh
Festival, although that consists of
over 2000 productions staged across
247 venues. The Tattoo is performed
every weekday evening and twice on
Saturdays throughout August and has
never been cancelled due to
inclement weather. The second
Saturday night performance includes
a Fireworks display, although each
performance uses Pyrotechnics and
since 2005 has also incorporated a
Son et lumière element projected
onto the façade of the Castle.
International military regiments and
even African tribes have performed
at the Tattoo over the years. The
first regiment from outside the UK
to take part was the Band of the
Royal Netherlands Grenadiers in
1952. So far, over 30 countries have
been represented at the Tattoo.
Popular visiting performers include
the Swiss Top Secret Drum Corps, who
performed at the 2003, 2006 and 2009
Tattoos. The Band and Drill team of
His Majesty The King's Guard of the
Norwegian Army has also performed at
the Tattoo on eight previous
occasions beginning in 1961,
adopting Nils Olav, a penguin at
Edinburgh Zoo, as their regimental
mascot in 1972.
In
addition, there are also the pipes
and drums of the Scots Guards, Irish
Guards, Royal Gurkha Rifles,
Scottish Officers Training Corps,
South African Irish Regiment, the
Rats of Tobruk and the City of
Wellington pipe band. The largest
ever gathering of massed pipes and
drums was for the 50th anniversary
tattoo in 2000 when there were 15
bands on parade, including 7 of the
eight Scottish regiments. Throughout
the period of the Tattoo, the
performers are accommodated at the
city's Redford Cavalry Barracks,
with the parade square used for
rehearsals.
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