Rachel Fergusson attends the 75th Anniversary of The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo - The Heroes Who Made Us
This August we celebrate 75 years of The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. With the British Army at centre stage, our The Heroes Who Made Us Show promises to be an extraordinary celebration of heroism, history, and cultural heritage, paying tribute to the remarkable individuals and stories that have shaped our event. This year’s line-up includes performances from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada, Germany, Poland, Ukraine and the United States of America.
00:00It wouldn't be the Edinburgh Festival because it's at the Tattoo and this year is an extra special year because it's the Tattoo's 75th anniversary.
00:09I went along to the preview ahead of the first official show tonight and it was as spectacular as ever.
00:15I spoke to Creative Director Alan Lane, Chief Executive Jason Barrett and was lucky enough to speak to some of the performers as well, some of whom it was their first time at the Tattoo.
00:26I'm joined by Alan Lane, who's the Creative Director of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
00:33Alan, thank you so much for speaking to us.
00:37We've got the preview of the show tonight and obviously this is your first year as Creative Director.
00:44How are you feeling as it all kicks off?
00:46I'm pretty excited. We've been working really hard for the last week.
00:49Cast is ready. They've come from all over the world. They are stupidly talented.
00:53We've been rehearsing hard and now we need an audience and they're arriving, right?
00:57And obviously this year is the 75th anniversary of the Tattoo and I know that it's a special show.
01:06Tell us what the audience can expect.
01:08Well, the Heroes Who Made us celebrates two types of heroes.
01:11The first are the people who made 75 years of the Tattoo and the second are the people who make our communities worthwhile.
01:15The people who serve us through their volunteering, through their military service, through their civilian service.
01:20So I think that will combine in hopefully a really emotional moment.
01:24And the tattoo standards are here. We've still got military music, traditional Highland arts and our international guests.
01:30It's a packed night.
01:32And of course you've brought guests from all over the world to perform tonight.
01:37What does it mean to have them here and joining you?
01:42International guests have always been a huge part of the Tattoo.
01:45This year it's never been more important to extend a hand of friendship out.
01:49We've got American bands here. It's really important they're here.
01:51We've got the Poles and Ukraine of course are a big moment.
01:54They've not left the country since the war.
01:56It's hugely emotional for them and it's a really, it's a big thing for them.
02:00And we're really proud to be supporting them.
02:03I'm joined by Jason Barrett who's the Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Military Task Force.
02:10Thank you very much for speaking to us.
02:12How are you feeling as all kicks off this evening?
02:15How am I feeling? I'm feeling excited.
02:18There's always a level of trepidation as we kick this thing off.
02:21We have 26 shows ahead of us.
02:23There's been an enormous amount of work that has gone into this and planning.
02:26And so it's with that that we're finally here.
02:28And a bit of us just wanting to get on with it.
02:30I'm joined by William Douglas who's from the US side.
02:33Thank you so much for speaking to us, William.
02:35Absolutely.
02:36You said that this is your first time performing at the Tattoo.
02:39How are you feeling ahead of tonight's preview performance?
02:43I am excited. I am exhilarated.
02:46My team and myself, we just got done in the Basel, Switzerland Tattoo a week and a half ago.
02:52And so we're just going from tattoo to tattoo performing.
02:55It's very exciting. It's very fun.
02:58And especially all of us, myself included, we feel very honored and privileged to be here right now representing the United States Air Force and our country here.
03:06And what are you looking forward to about the Atlas of the next year?
03:11So I can say that during our performances, we definitely feed off of the crowd's energy.
03:18Every single cheer, clap and applaud.
03:21We love it so much.
03:23We want everyone to be as loud as possible cheering us on and clapping.
03:27In particular, watching the US side, it was incredible.
03:32Tickets are still available and the show's running until the 23rd of August.
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