Czech it out: Tattoo prepares for an out-of-this-world spectacular
● Music from Star Wars and Star Trek will feature
Two Czech dancers – with Mexican accompanists – at the launch of the 2018 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle yesterday. More than 1,200 performers, including almost 300 young people will take part in this year’s performance on the theme of ‘The Sky’s The Limit’.
Iconic themes from science fiction epics Star Wars and Star Trek are to feature in the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo as it deploys state of the art laser beams in its array of special effects for the first time.
A spectacular tribute to the first moon landings nearly 40 years ago and Albert Einstein’s discovery of the theory of relativity will also be centrepieces of the production.
It will be staged under the banner of “the sky’s the limit” and will highlight the human race’s fascination with flight and space travel.
A recreation of Apollo 11’s famous 1969 mission to the moon is expected to be among the highlights of a show which will also celebrate the centenary of the Royal Air Force.
Images of bumble bees, seabirds from the Shetland Isles, Mexican eagles, an Arabian Nights skyline and soaring Spitfire aircraft will be projected on to Edinburgh Castle during the show, which will also feature a version of a Justin Bieber hit, Despacito.
The space travel elements of have been planned a year after British astronaut Major Tim Peake was a guest of honour at the event, which will launch with a special preview performance on Thursday.
The production, which will be seen by around 220,000 people on the castle esplanade this month, will feature more than 1200 performers. Malawi schoolchildren are among around 300 teenagers cast in the show, as part of the event’s participation in the Scottish Government’s Year of Young
people. A group of 20 pupils from the edinburgh girls high School will be joining forces with a choir from the Mary Erskine School in Edinburgh for the bumble bee sequence.
A specially-formed band of more than 100 performers will be celebrating the flight of the Mexican eagle and the country’s Aztec history and heritage, while Boston’s Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes and Drums will accompany a hot air balloon sequence.
The Royal Cavalry of the Sultanate of Oman, which will
include an all-female marching band and 30 performers on horseback, will perform before the “Arabian Nights” backdrop after more than four years of talks with organisers over a possible appearance at the event. The Czech Armed Forces Band will accompany a sequence celebrating the world’s natural beauty, and the landscapes, villages, towns and cities which have evolved over the centuries.
One of the most popular acts to appear in recent years, Switzerland’s Top Secret Drum
Corps, will be providing dazzling displays to accompany images exploring space, time and the speed of light, including Albert Einstein’s most famous calculations.
This year’s Tattoo will include a sequence honouring the groundbreaking Scottish piping legend Gordon Duncan, who died 13 years ago at the age of just 41 after a battle with alcoholism, but left a legacy of more than 100 tunes which have since been performed around the world. Other expected highlights of the
show include a performance of the Last Post by the Royal Ypriana Wind Band Buglers, who were formed in Ypres in the aftermath of the end of the First World War.
Brigadier David Allfrey, the event’s chief executive and producer, said: “Audiences can expect to be spellbound by the sights, sounds and eclectic atmosphere created by our cast, with incredible light and laser technology thrown in for good measure.”
“Audiences can expect to be spellbound by the sights, sounds and eclectic atmosphere created by our cast” BRIGADIER DAVID ALLFREY Tattoo chief executive and producer