My Summer of 2023

Chapter 9, The Edinburgh Tattoo – AMAZING!

There is an annual event in Edinburgh, Scotland every August, The Edinburgh Festivals and The Fringe. International artists of all modalities converge on the Scottish capital for a month’s long celebration of the arts. Included in this city-wide extravaganza is the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, a spectacular display of several countries talented military bands. Of course I had not heard of this festival until Maralyn, in our correspondence earlier in the year, told me about it and that my timing in Edinburgh was perfect for attending the event. My internet search about the Tattoo by way of You Tube videos showed me that I was in for quite an exhilarating experience. If you look it up, you will see even better example videos than I can provide here on my blog.

We arrived early in Edinburgh by tram on August 18. I had secured a nice room in a very convenient hotel on Prince’s Street, amid all the activities. Across the street from my hotel was the lovely Prince’s Street Gardens where grassy lawns, numerous statues and historic plaques were in abundance. From the hotel and the park, high above on a massive rock formation stood the impressive and imposing Edinburgh Castle. That would be the location that evening for the Military Tattoo performance.

All day we wandered about in the huge crowds, where street performers, artists, actors and musicians were active throughout the day.

Princes Street Gardens were directly across from my hotel, dating back to the 1840’s. A World Heritage Site in lies in a shallow valley beneath the Edinburgh castle and straddles Old and New Town areas. Besides the beautiful park grounds, it holds many monuments and statues. The Old town is on the upper level, where it seemed most of the Festival activity was prevalent.

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Other scenes in Old Town Edinburgh along the Royal Mile:

The city is on several levels, so considerable time was spent climbing up and down and along the different street levels. The day did wear on and we tired by late afternoon. Our tickets to the Tattoo were not until 9:30 P.M., so we had lots of time to kill. In that, we sought out a pub where we could imbibe a wee bit of beer and rest. I was fading and did nod off a time or two while sipping my beer.

Back on the streets and more wandering about, we looked for a restaurant/pub close to the Edinburgh Castle and location of the celebration. Luckily, we found a place where we found open seats although the place was packed, becoming shoulder to shoulder as we received and ate our dinners. Sufficiently rested and fed, it was time to join the herds of people making their way to the castle.

Now twilight, we found our seats and awaited the ceremonies. As darkness had settled in, the aged castle walls were suddenly aglow with projected images and colors.

The show’s beginning was imminent with a sense of growing anticipation.

Now in total darkness, light spotlighted the castle door and the haunting sound of bagpipes enveloped the audience as the door opened and bagpipers swarmed out across the moat marching in step onto the performance field before us. Other bands with drums merged with the bagpipers creating a colorful flourish as the music held us awestruck. There is something about the music of a bagpipe that pierces through a person with its peculiar, powerful sound that can be intimidating, yet regal to hear.

The night had just begun in a commanding way and would continue as military bands from six different countries performed including the US Air Force Band, those from Switzerland and Trinidad/Tobago among others.

The colors, performances, acts, precision drills and majesty of it all was just incredible!

Then, a hushed silence.

A lone bagpiper stood high upon the castle’s ramparts, a lone spotlight highlighting him, the music touching and stirring.

At other times trumpeters were highlighted upon those ramparts, or flames would blast upward into the night sky. All the while projected images flowed upon the walls in conjunction with the performances unfolding before the crowd.

The choreography required for all these bands and performers playing together was phenomenal. It was a powerful pageant with light show, marching bands, dancers, performers and fireworks creating an electrifying atmosphere.

The most colorful performances were those of Trinidad/Tobago, the Caribbean Island, with elaborate, multi-colored costumes, some that I can only describe as floating moths and butterflies whose antics were joyful and hilarious.

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Performances reaching their final climax, the tempo steadily increased like a racing heartbeat, creating a thrilling and most electrifying atmosphere.

I felt stirred to my core, exhilarated, speechless, breathless.

This Edinburgh Military Tattoo was definitely a highlight of my adventures in Scotland and I am thankful and so appreciative of Maralyn and Graham for including me in that spectacular event.

A very orderly dismissal of the crowd followed the performance, the best I’ve ever seen after a large gathering of people. All those people were a mass of humanity that filled the streets afterward. As soon as possible we broke away to a place where we could more easily navigate back to my hotel. From there, Maralyn and Graham gathered up their belongings and then proceeded to catch a tram back to their car and then back to their home north of Glasgow. I did not envy their late-night travel home while I was able to end my long day sleeping in my hotel room.

WOW! What a day and night!

A decent sleep, not the best, and I was up early the next morning in preparation for the next segment of my Scottish adventure.

Into the Scottish Highlands…