60th Edinburgh Tattoo on course for spectacular Homecoming display

By Oliver Farrimond

THIS year’s Edinburgh Tattoo is on course to defy the credit crunch and put on a spectacular show on its 60th anniversary.

More than 1,000 performers will descend on the castle for the iconic military display, which will also feature the Brit Award-winning Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.

In line with tradition, the show will open and close with the much-loved Massed Pipes and Drums, which take on special significance in the Homecoming Year of Robert Burns’ 250th anniversary.

Singers from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama will join forces with the Calgary Burns Singers from Canada to honour the bard with a special musical homage.

The show will also feature a dramatic mock-rescue by the RAF’s emergency medical response team, as an interlude to the traditional musical fare.

Stellar new line-up unveiled for Edinburgh Tattoo 2009

By Michael MacLeod

RUNRIG’S founder member is penning a new song for this year’s Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

Organisers are promising the show will be the “best ever” in its 60 year history.

Accordion player Blair Douglas, a living legend in Scots traditional music for his role in forming Runrig, has been commissioned by Tattoo bosses to compose the centrepiece to the world-famous event.

And it was announced yesterday (Wednesday) that the massive pipe-band production will be going down-under to Australia to play in Sydney’s huge football stadium in February.

Major new additions to the programme were unveiled yesterday to mark the show’s 60th anniversary.