The 2012 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo: All you need to know

When?

Running in tandem with the Festival, the Tatoo runs between the 3rd and the 25th August. Performances start at 9pm Monday to Friday, at 7.30pm and 10.30pm on Saturday. There is no show on Sundays.

Where?

You have to ask? The Tattoo sits in one of Scotland’s most iconic locations, in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle. The spectator stands are specially constructed on the Esplanade at the top of the Royal Mile.

Tickets

At the end of last month there were still over 30,000 tickets unsold, despite a run of successive sell-outs since 1999.

Tickets start at around £20 and vary in price depending on which section of the arena you choose to sit in. You can book online, by phone on 0131 225 1188, in person at the sales office at 33-34 Market Street or by post.

What’s new this year?

• Audience members are being urged to “bling up” to help mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

• Pop and rock covers feature in the programme of music alongside traditional favourites.

• Six minutes of music from the Disney-Pixar film Brave will also feature during the opening night.

• Under a tie-in with the Dundee-basesd publishers of The Beano, Dennis the Menace and Minnie the Minx will perform stunts on BMX bikes during each performance. There will also be appearances from Oor Wullie and The Broons.

• Among the star attractions are expected to be the Australian Defence Force band, the “Top Secret Drum Corps” band from the Swiss city of Basel, the King of Norway’s Guard and South Africa’s Cape Town Highlanders pipe band.

• The show’s climax is also expected to feature a rendition of the classic James Bond anthem “Diamonds Are Forever.”

A short history

The word ‘tattoo’, you may be surprised to learn, has absolutely nothing to do with body art. In fact, its linguistic origin lies in the Dutch phrase, ‘doe den tap toe’. Once you know that the ‘toe’ is pronounced ‘to’, it begins to make sense. Translated, the words mean ‘turn off the taps’. That is, in more familiar terms: last orders.

First heard by British soldiers back in the 1740s when they were stationed in Flanders during the war of the Austrian succession, this was the call that hailed the troops back to barracks for the night.

Back in 1945, Edinburgh’s city fathers gave the then Lord Provost, Sir John Falconer, permission to realise his vision for a world-focused festival of music and drama. The country was still suffering from the wounds of the Second World War but Edinburgh had been virtually unscarred by the conflict and wanted to give public thanks for its salvation.

The first performance in 1948 – some years before the event was given its full title of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo – took place in the Ross Bandstand in Princes Street Gardens.

In 1950, it moved onto the Castle Esplanade, concentrating on traditional pipes and drums and Highland dancing. From the beginning, a soldier, Pipe Major George Stoddart, was asked to play a haunting lament during the event and thus the Lone Piper tradition began.

More than 40,000 performers from more than 46 countries have taken part and today, each Tattoo features around 1,000 military and civilian performers who come together in a shared celebration of culture and diversity.