Tattoo's Diamond line-up sparkles

Published on Thursday 29 July 2010 17:54

GUEST performers from Poland, Jordan, South Carolina and Cape Town will be part of the newly-rebranded Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo this summer, organisers revealed yesterday.

•Murad Jalamdeh and Ibrahim al-Sheikh of the Jordanian army at the Castle Picture: Esme Allen

The event will see Major Gavin Stoddart, son of the event's first lone piper, Pipe Major George Stoddart, help the Tattoo celebrate its 60th birthday by making a return to the role eight years after retiring.

Breathtaking military gymnasts, daredevil motorcyclists, and flawless drill marching will join the crowd-pleasing massed pipes and drums bands at the event, which will run for three weeks next month.

The line-up for the Tattoo was unveiled yesterday as the first of the city's major cultural celebrations, the Edinburgh Art Festival, got under way.

Hundreds of tickets are still available for the Tattoo — despite the flagship event being given official royal status earlier this year to mark its Diamond Jubilee, the first of Edinburgh's festival events to win approval from Buckingham Palace.

Although in previous years all tickets have been regularly snapped up months in advance, the 2009 show did not sell out until a few days before the opening performance.

A spokesman said: "Sales are slightly behind on last year and we do have limited availability for a handful of performances, but more than 98 per cent of our tickets are sold out and the majority of tickets which are yet to sell out are for the half-price preview on 5 August."

Among the expected highlights this year are the first-ever Polish military band to grace the event, the 38-strong Imps Motorcycle Display Team from London, the Citadel Regimental Band and Pipes from Charleston, South Carolina, armed forces musicians from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the New Zealand Army's brass band and the British Army's physical training corps.

The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards will top the bill in the pipes and drums line-up, after winning a Classical Brit award last year.

Major-General Euan Loudon, who is producing the event for the fourth time, said: "This programme will provide a profusion of variety from around the world which will, I hope, stand as a fitting testament to the traditions of Edinburgh's famous Tattoo and a celebration of its Diamond Jubilee."

Meanwhile the capital's festivals are set to burst into life over the next few days, following the launch of the Edinburgh Art Festival yesterday at the National Gallery of Scotland, which is hosting a blockbuster exhibition devoted to the Impressionists.

Other highlights include major showcases of the work of artists Joan Mitchell, Barbara Rae and Turner Prize-winner Richard Wright, as well as sculptor Sandy Stoddart and photographers William Wegman and Edward Weston.

The Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival's programme, which starts tonight, will see the latest major Fringe venue, Assembly's giant tent in Princes Street Gardens, making its debut, with a performance by Fat Sams Band.

The jazz festival's opening weekend will see the traditional "Mardis Gras" event in the Grassmarket follow a "jazz flashmob" being masterminded by drummer Phil Bancroft tomorrow morning in Parliament Square, off the Royal Mile.

Another major new attraction in Princes Street Gardens, Festival in the Sky, which will offer the chance to dine while suspended more than 100ft above the beauty spot, is due to open on Sunday.