Royal EDINBURGH MILITARY TATTOO

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
A Splash of Tartan
Clan Donnachaidh will be appearing on Saturday 12 August 2017 at 7.30 p.m.
Brigadier David Allfrey of The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo attended the AGM of the
Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs and invited the Chiefs and their retinues to participate in
The Tattoo in 2017. The Chiefs in attendance voted unanimously to accept this invitation.
For those of you who are not familiar with The Tattoo it is the headline event of the
Edinburgh Festival each August. It takes place on the esplanade in front of Edinburgh Castle
which must be one of the most iconic settings in the world. It has a cast of 1,200 performers
from all over the world including massed pipe bands and other theatrical and military
performances. There is a stunning lighting display and fireworks.
There are 25 shows running from Thursday 3rd August to Saturday 26th August (two on
Saturdays, none on Sundays). There is a sell out audience of 8,000 each night and the TV
coverage has a global audience of a staggering 100 million people.
A summary of his invitation is:
Two or three Chiefs each night to go onto esplanade at start of performance along with
their combined retinue of 100 supporters (who must all wear tartan). The retinue will line
up in front of the Royal Gallery.  Chiefs to be introduced to the Salute Taker. Chiefs to take Ceremonial Dram with Pipe Major in front of pipe bands. Chiefs and retinue to take their seats for the rest of the performance. The Tattoo tickets sell out every year. The Tattoo have generously reserved 300 tickets for the clans and families to buy for each performance using our own internet link and password. These will be reserved until 1st March when they will be released to the general
public, so bookings should be made by 28 February. 
The Tattoo performance will have a strong clan theme to go along with the traditional military bands. There may well be actors depicting clan scenes.
We are discussing a clans and families booklet to go into the programmes as an insert. The
announcer will say a few words about the clan or family on show each night.
We are having exciting discussions about how the clans will enter The Tattoo. There will be
some form of procession. We hope that this will include all of our supporters and not just
the 100 in the retinue. The Tattoo will welcome our own pipers and drummers as part of the retinue. They will be able to tune up with the massed pipe bands beforehand. They will be able to play on the
procession but not on the esplanade. For more information please see: www.edintattoo.co.uk/
There has been an enthusiastic uptake from the Scottish Clans and Families. Over 50 have
volunteered to take part so far. This means that there will be two or three clans on duty for
each performance.
CLAN DONNACHAIDH AT THE TATTOO
Clan Donnachaidh will be appearing on Saturday 12 August at the 7.30 p.m. performance,
along with Clan Oliphant.  The Clan Donnachaidh Society AGM and gathering is being arranged in Pitlochry in the week prior to the Tattoo. The programme has been set out and will be updated as details are clarified. The plan is to arrange for a coach to take clansfolk from Pitlochry to Edinburgh on Saturday 12 August and to bring them back again the same evening.
If you would like to join the Clan Donnachaidh night, please contact clandonn@pt.lu to tell
us how many of you would like to come and to obtain the internet link and password to
enable you to buy your own tickets.