The 68th tattoo will celebrate the centenary of the RAF and Scotland’s Year of Young People and they have some staple acts alongside new ones to entertain their sell-out crowds.
With an expected audience of 220,000 over the shows in August and a TV audience of over 100 million the show is extremely popular and takes scenes from the Esplanade at Edinburgh Castle across the world.
This year the Sultan of Oman has sent over thirty horses from the Royal Cavalry of the Sultanate of Oman’s Pipers on horseback. In addition there is an all-female marching band to whisk you off to the desert.
The Banda Monumental de Mexico entertained us on the Esplanade on Monday morning at the press call with their uplifting carnival music. They will play Luis Fonsi’s legendary Despacito.
The Top Secret Drum Corps will be back along with the Massed Pipes and Drums.
We met Steve Ross one of the pipers with the RAF pipes and drums. He seemed a little familiar.. He is actually the headteacher at Craigroyston Community High School in the north of the city, and for a couple of weeks during the summer this is what he gets up to!
We met piper Steve Ross at the @EdinburghTattoo press launch – a man well known to pupils at @CCHSEdinburgh …. pic.twitter.com/aRWE1YGc2u
— Edinburgh Reporter (@EdinReporter) July 30, 2018
Brigadier David Allfrey, Chief Executive and Producer of The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo said: “The time has finally come to reveal a magical line-up of talent set to keep the audience on the edge of their seats from start to finish. It’s an enthralling 90-minute spectacle that’s set to be one of our best shows yet with an army of young performers to the fore.
“One of the remarkable characteristics of the youthful is the optimism and their ability to not be limited by boundaries – barriers between people, communities or opportunities. This is a celebration of that mindset and we hope for the show to be an inspiration to both young and old, to keep this childlike spirit alive in all aspects of our lives from our ambitions to our interactions with others.
“Audiences can expect to be spellbound by the sights, sounds and electric atmosphere created by our 2018 cast with incredible light and laser technology thrown in for good measure. It is all about unleashing human potential, not just in the Show but in life generally.
“Now that the cast has descended on Scotland’s capital from around the globe, we’re putting the final touches to the show in preparation of Friday’s opening performance. We are so excited to bring such a spectacular variety of performers to Edinburgh for a month of magic and to join together to celebrate the Year of Young People and the centenary of the RAF.”
All photos John Preece
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
