The best Tattoo is not body art...

Saturday we attended the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo...no, it isn't body art!!  The Tattoo is a festival of military bands from the UK and other parts of the world.  There were also folk dancers - Scotland, Korea, Mexico, and Mongolia.  It is a marvelous event and very moving in a patriotic way.  There were four or five pipe and drum units from the UK.  I recorded a video of a couple of them but the file is huge and I don't know how to post it here.

The event is held on the esplanade leading to the entrance of the Edinburgh Castle.  An opening fanfare is heard from the battlements of the castle as Highland pipers, followed by the massed pipes and drums of military regiments march onto the esplanade.  Highland dancers perform.  This year the tribute was made to Korea as the Korean War ended 60 years ago.  There were military bands and dancers from Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Mongolia with the grand finale being all the bands together on the esplanade.

 

The pipe and drum band marching in at the beginning of the event.

 

This was the finale with all the performers "on stage"

 

At the end of the program the lone piper stood high on the castle battlement and played.  Then the fireworks started and the bands continued to play

 

 

The final band to march off was the Black Watch Regiment - pipes and drums - playing familiar Scottish songs and the entire audience - 8,600 people - sang the old Scottish song - "Auld Lang Syne".  This was taken from a Robert Burns poem written in 1788.

 

 

Photos from the Brochure

 

 

The Royal Edinburgh Tattoo is a great event that highlights the pipes and drums of the military bands and also folk dancers.  It is crazy busy in Edinburgh during the festival, but August is a great time to visit Scotland.