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).
The word "Tattoo" is derived from "Doe den tap toe", or just "tap toe" ("toe" is pronounced "too"), the Dutch for "Last orders". Translated literally, it means: "put the tap to", or "close or turn off the tap". The term "Tap-toe" was first encountered by the British Army when stationed in Flanders during the War of the Austrian Succession.
The British adopted the practice and it became a signal, played by a regiment's Corps of Drums or Pipes and Drums each night to tavern owners to turn off the taps of their ale kegs so that the soldiers would retire to their billeted lodgings at a reasonable hour. With the establishment of modern barracks and full Military bands later in the 18th century, the term Tattoo was used to describe not only the last duty call of the day, but also a ceremonial form of evening entertainment performed by Military musicians.
Although the first Tattoo in Edinburgh, entitled "Something About a Soldier", took place at the Ross Bandstand at Princes Street Gardens in 1949, the first official Edinburgh Military Tattoo began in 1950 with just eight items in the programme. It drew some 6000 spectators seated in simple bench and scaffold structures around the north, south and east sides of the Edinburgh Castle esplanade. In 1952, the capacity of the stands was increased to accommodate a nightly audience of 7700, allowing 160,000 to watch live performances each year.
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 current temporary Grandstands on the castle esplanade were first used in 1975 and have a capacity of 8600. New £16 million spectator stands and corporate hospitality boxes are planned to be in place by 2011. The new temporary stands will reduce the time taken to erect and dismantle them to one month, compared to the current six months, allowing the esplanade to host events at other times of the year. 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.
Since 2004, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo has also held free abridged performances at the Ross Bandstand in Princess Street Gardens, entitled "Taste of the Tattoo", and as of 2008 also in George Square in Glasgow. The Edinburgh Military Tattoo has also toured overseas, visiting New Zealand in 2000 as part of the Tattoo's 50th anniversary celebrations. It also visited Australia in 2005 and will return to the Sydney Football Stadium in February 2010 as part of the Tattoo's 60th anniversary celebrations.
The Tattoo is televised in 30 countries and a further 100 million people see the event on television worldwide. In the UK the event is broadcast annually by the BBC, with Tom Fleming commentating every year since 1966. In Australia the Tattoo is traditionally telecast 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, the 2007 Tattoo was broadcast even earlier on Christmas Eve, and the 2009 Tattoo was broadcast two days after New Year's Eve on January 2, 2010.
The Tattoo is run for charitable causes and over the years has given over £5 million to military and civilian charities and organisations, such as the Army Benevolent Fund. However, the greater benefit has been that it, by independent count, generates an additional £88 million in revenue 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, with the main corporate sponsor being the Royal Bank of Scotland.
By 2010, its 60th year, it is now called the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo due to HM Queen Elizabeth's awarding of the Royal title in celebration of six decades of this tattoo, one of the world's popular and much awaited military events, as well as Scotland's and Edinburgh's proudest activity in honor of the Scottish personnel and officers of the British Armed Forces and their contribution to the UK's military prestige through the centuries.
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.
Each year has a 'lead' service from the British Armed Forces, alternating between the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, the British Army and the Royal Air Force. Although each year also celebrates or commemorates a particular organisation, anniversary, theme or event. The highlight of every Tattoo however continues to be the massed pipes and drums, provided by regiments of the British Army and visiting civilian and military pipes and drums from around the world, although primarily from Commonwealth nations with Scottish connections. Each evening traditionally concludes with the massed pipes and drums marching on to join the massed military bands. This is then followed by a rendition of the National Anthem and Auld Lang Syne. There is then 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 ramparts of the Half Moon Battery. The performers then march off the esplanade and down the Royal Mile to a series of rousing tunes including Scotland the Brave.
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.
Captain Forbes Taylor - Produced the 1952 Tattoo. As a professional film director, Captain Forbes Taylor provided the experience upon which the format for subsequent Tattoos were set and included the first overseas performers.
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 - Served with the Royal Highland Fusiliers and former GOC 2nd Division and Governor of Edinburgh Castle. Took over the producer's post in 2007.
The original meaning of military tattoo is a military drum performance, but nowadays it sometimes means army displays more generally. It dates from the seventeenth century when the British Army was fighting in the Low Countries (Belgium and The Netherlands). Drummers from the garrison were sent out into the towns at 21:30 hrs (9:30PM) each evening to inform the soldiers that it was time to return to barracks. The process was known as doe den tap toe (old-Dutch for "turn off the tap"), an instruction to innkeepers to stop serving beer and send the soldiers home for the night. The drummers continued to play until the curfew at 22:00 hrs (10:00PM). Tattoo, earlier tap-too resp. taptoo, is an alteration of the Dutch word taptoe which has the same meaning.
Over the years, the process became more of a show and often included the playing of the first post at 21:30 hrs and the last post at 22:00. Bands and displays were included and shows were often conducted by floodlight or searchlight. Tattoos were commonplace in the late 1800s with most military and garrison towns putting on some kind of show or entertainment during the summer months. Between the First World War and the Second World War elaborate tattoos were held in many towns, with the largest in Aldershot.
One of the best known Tattoos is held on the Esplanade in front of Edinburgh Castle each August and forms the centrepiece of the annual Edinburgh Festival. The Edinburgh Military Tattoo was first staged in 1950; it combines the traditional sounds of the bagpipes and drums with the modern aspects of the armed forces. Another leading UK Tattoo is the Birmingham Tattoo held annually at the National Indoor Arena in November which has been attracting audiences to Birmingham since 1989. In 2008, The Windsor Castle Royal Tattoo was launched, held in the private grounds of Windsor Castle by permission of HM The Queen. The event's proceeds went to Royal British Legion to help support recently returned troops from battle. The event was held again in 2009.
The Norwegian Military Tattoo is internationally famous for its quality and streamlined production. It has been held every second year since 1994 in the capital of Norway, Oslo. Since 1996 the shows were presented indoor - in Oslo spektrum which are "tailor-made" for this kind of event.
Another well-known Tattoo was the Royal Tournament which was held annually in London from 1880 to 1999. The Royal International Navy Tattoo is the world's largest military airshow, open to the public.
The indoor Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo is the largest annual indoor tattoo, featuring in 2007 over 2000 performers from around the world, including Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway. There is another military tattoo in Canada : The Quebec City Military Tattoo. This event is part of the Quebec City International Festival of Military Bands which takes place in August(14-24).
The largest tattoo in the United States is the Virginia International Tattoo, held every year in Norfolk, Virginia. Over 850 performers play traditional music and many international acts join every branch of the Armed Forces for a spectacular show.
One of the newer tattoos in North America is the Heartland International Tattoo in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, near Chicago. Originally staged at the Northern Illinois University Convocation Center in DeKalb, Illinois, the Heartland Tattoo was created by theatrical and entertainment producer FunME Events in 2006. The Heartland Tattoo is staged in mid-April at the Sears Centre Arena.
The United States Air Force holds tattoos for many different events and celebrations, like base openings and closers, and special events like the 21st Annual Langley Tattoo.The Air Force's largest tattoo is held the last Friday of June each year at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. The 2008 tattoo there drew an estimated 75,000 people. It featured country singing star Charlie Daniels. The 2009 event will be June 26 and feature aircraft flyovers and music by country singer Aaron Tippen.
