Scotland - STREET ART

The Military Tattoo

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, or just Military Tattoo is an international festival of military bands (tattoo) taking place annually since 1950 at Edinburgh Castle, Scotland. It is part of the Edinburgh festivals that take place in August.

More than 200,000 people visit each year Edinburgh to attend performances that take place over 3 weeks. It is broadcasted on TV in more than 30 countries for a total audience of 100 million viewers per year. The first edition was held In 1950 with only a 8 bands programme.

Originally known as the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, the festival was renamed Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo after Queen Elizabeth II has added the title (Royal) in honor of its sixty years of existence in 2010.

Numerous international military regiments and some African tribes, have participated in the Tattoo since 1950.
The first regiment outside the United Kingdom who made an appearance was that of the Garderegiment Grenadiers in Jagers (Grenadiers and the Royal Rifles) of the Netherlands in 1952. Since then, over thirty countries were represented at the Tattoo.

Among the most popular ones were the Top Secret Drum Corps (Corps top secret drums), a Swiss non-military group (the first to participate in Tattoo) who participated in 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2012, the Norwegian regiment Han Majestet Kongens Garde (His Majesty's guards), and this eight times since 1961 and they have adopted as a mascot in 1972, Nils Olav, a king penguin from the Edinburgh Zoo and so on. In recent years, the festival has hosted groups of dancers and cultural music from several countries.

Enzo & Quentin