Everything about The Edinburgh Military Tattoo totally explained
The
Edinburgh Military Tattoo is an annual
Military tattoo given by
British Armed Forces,
Commonwealth and International
military bands and display teams in the
Scottish capital
Edinburgh. The event takes place annually in August, as part of the
Edinburgh Festival (a collective name for many independent festivals and events in Edinburgh in August).
History
The word "tattoo" originally dates from the eighteenth century, when
British Army units were stationed in
Flanders during the
War of the Austrian Succession.
Drummers from the garrison were sent out into the towns each evening to
Beat Retreat, summoning the soldiers to return to
barracks for the night. The process was known as
Doe den tap toe or just
tap toe and encouraged the inn keepers to "turn off the taps": stop serving beer and send the soldiers back for the night.
The first official Tattoo began in
1950 with just 8 items in the programme.
Today
Now, on average, just over 217,000 people see the Tattoo live on the esplanade of
Edinburgh Castle each year, and it always sells out in advance. 30% of the audience are from
Scotland and 35% from the rest of the
United Kingdom. The event is so well known in Britain that to many people (especially older people) "The Edinburgh Tattoo" is a synonym for "The Edinburgh Festival". The remaining 35% of the audience consists of 70,000 visitors from overseas. Worldwide, a further 100 million people see the event on television. In the UK the event is broadcast annually by the
BBC, with
Tom Fleming commentating on every year since 1966. In
Australia the Tattoo is traditionally telecasted by
ABC on the evening of
New Year's Day, although in a break with tradition, the 2006 Tattoo was broadcast two days earlier on December 30, and the 2007 Tattoo was broadcast even earlier on Christmas Eve.
The Tattoo is run for
charitable causes and over the years has given over
UK£ 5 million to military and civilian charities and organisations. However, the greater benefit has been that it, by independent count, generates an additional £82 million for Edinburgh's economy annually.
The official magazine of the Edinburgh Military tattoo is called Salute and is distributed free to sponsors, Friends of the Tattoo, and visiting performers.
Princess Anne, the
Princess Royal, is the current Patron of the event.
Performers
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. Since 2005 a
Son et lumière element to the performance has also been incorporated.
The highlight is the massed
pipes and drums, provided by regiments of the
British Army and regiments from around the world with Scottish connections. Each evening traditionally concludes with a flag-lowering ceremony (see
Beating Retreat), with the bugles either sounding the
Last Post, or the "Sunset" bugle call of the
Royal Marines, and ends with a floodlit lone piper playing a
Lament from high on the Castle ramparts.
The
2005 Tattoo saw the largest gathering of pipes and drums in the event's history, including the pipes and drums of all six regular infantry regiments of the
Scottish Division. This was the last time all six appeared at the Tattoo prior to the formation of the
Royal Regiment of Scotland:
Producers
Producers of the Edinburgh Tattoo have included:
Lt Col George Malcolm of Poltalloch – Produced a pageant on the Castle Esplanade in 1947 entitled “The King’s Men” and produced the first Edinburgh Tattoo in 1950.
Brigadier Alistair MacLean of Pennycross – Director of the Tattoo from 1950, he took over as the Producer in 1953.
Brigadier Jack Sanderson – Former Scots Guards officer, he took over in 1968.
Lt Col Lesley Dow – Served with the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and became producer in 1976.
Major Michael Parker – Producer of the Royal Tournament (1974-99), the Berlin Tattoo as well as the VE & VJ Day commemorations in 1995. Producer of the Tattoo from 1992-4
Brigadier Melville Jameson – Served with the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and former commander of the Highland Brigade. Producer of the Tattoo from 1994-2006.
Major-General Euan Loudon - GOC 2nd Division and Governor of Edinburgh Castle. Takes over the producer's post in 2007.
Source: Roddy Martine – Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2001Further Information
Get more info on 'Edinburgh Military Tattoo'.
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