The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo: Massed Pipes on the Castle Esplanade

Each major claim carries one of three labels. established means supported by primary records, official bodies or several independent reliable sources. shared means the core fact is sound but sources disagree on details, dates or interpretation. traditional means widely repeated but not traceable to a primary or independent source.

Most figures for audiences, television viewers and economic impact come from the Tattoo organisation itself. They are widely repeated but not independently audited, and television estimates in particular vary widely. This card gives them as the organisation's figures.

Where the word comes from

established A military tattoo has nothing to do with ink. The word comes from the Dutch phrase doe den tap toe, "turn off the tap". In seventeenth-century garrison towns in the Low Countries, drummers marched through the streets each evening to tell innkeepers to shut their taps and soldiers to return to their billets. British soldiers serving there brought the custom home, and "tattoo" became the name of the evening drum and bugle call to quarters. Over time, displays of military music and drill took the name too.

1949 to 1950: the Army joins the Festival

established The Edinburgh International Festival was founded in 1947 to reunite post-war Europe through the arts. The Army's contribution began in 1949 with "Something About a Soldier", a show at the Ross Bandstand in Princes Street Gardens. Its success led to something larger.

established In 1950 the first Edinburgh Military Tattoo was staged on the castle esplanade, the broad parade ground in front of the castle gatehouse. Produced by Lieutenant Colonel George Malcolm of Poltalloch, it had just eight programme items. There were no grandstands; about 6,000 spectators watched from the esplanade itself. Stands were built from 1951, and Brigadier Alistair Maclean of Pennycross, director from 1950 and producer from 1953 to 1959, shaped the format through its first decade.

A world show

established The Tattoo became international almost at once. In 1952 the Band of the Royal Netherlands Grenadiers became the first overseas performers, and performers from more than 45 countries have since taken part, from Tonga and Jordan to the United States and New Zealand. Each year's show mixes massed pipes and drums and British military bands with visiting national bands, dance troupes and display teams. In 2014 the Tattoo created its own house band, the Pipers' Trail, the first pipe band with no military connections to perform in it.

established About 1,000 performers take part each year. The audience is also international: around 70 per cent come from outside Scotland, and about half of those from overseas.

The esplanade and its stands

established For decades the grandstands were temporary scaffolding, built each summer and taken down afterwards, which closed part of the esplanade for about two months. In 2011 new £16 million stands with corporate boxes came into use, halving the build and strike time to about a month. Each performance seats about 8,600 to 8,800 people.

established The Tattoo has never been cancelled because of bad weather. Audiences sit through Edinburgh's August rain in waterproofs, and the performers march regardless. The only cancelled seasons were 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lone piper

established The best-known moment of every performance is the finale, when the massed bands fall silent and a single piper plays a lament from the castle ramparts, lit by one spotlight. It is the image most visitors take home, and it has become a symbol of the Tattoo itself.

The Royal title and the numbers

established In 2010, to mark the Tattoo's sixtieth year, Queen Elizabeth II granted it the title Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

shared By the Tattoo's own figures, an average of just over 220,000 people have seen it live each year since the 1970s, it sold out every season from 1998 until the pandemic, and it is broadcast to an estimated 100 million viewers a year. In 2018 the organisers projected broadcasts in 40 countries with between 100 and 300 million viewers. The organisation has given about £10 million to charities over its history, including the Army Benevolent Fund, and estimates that it brings up to £100 million a year into Edinburgh's economy. These are self-reported figures.

shared The Tattoo has also toured, notably to Australia and New Zealand, taking the esplanade format to stadiums abroad.

Tradition or spectacle?

shared The Tattoo is often presented as an ancient Scottish custom. It is better described as a twentieth-century spectacle built on an older military practice and on the Victorian image of the Highland soldier. That does not make it less Scottish: few events have done more to fix the sound of massed pipes and drums in the world's idea of Scotland.

• "Tattoo" comes from the Dutch for "turn off the tap".
• The first Tattoo audience in 1950 had no seats; they stood on the esplanade.
• The Tattoo has never been rained off.
• Around 70 per cent of the audience come from outside Scotland.
• Performers from more than 45 countries have marched on the esplanade.
• Building and dismantling the old temporary stands took about two months each year.

• Myth: the Tattoo is an ancient Scottish tradition. It began in 1950, as a twentieth-century spectacle built on an older military evening call and the Victorian image of the Highland soldier.
• Myth: a military tattoo has something to do with body tattoos. The word comes from the Dutch doe den tap toe, "turn off the tap", the evening signal for innkeepers to stop serving and soldiers to return to quarters.
• Disputed: the audience, television and economic figures. The 220,000 live audience, the television estimate of about 100 million and the claimed economic benefit of up to £100 million a year are the Tattoo's own figures, not independently audited, and television estimates vary widely.
• Myth: the Tattoo has never been cancelled. It was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic. It has never been cancelled for bad weather.