Incredible Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Takes My Breath Away
Day 40, 2025 European Odyssey
Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025; Edinburgh, Scotland.
Imagine sitting in the stands at an American college football game, watching the home team’s marching band take the field for maybe 10 minutes. Most spectators have headed for the concession stands or toilet – or buried their faces in their smartphones.
The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is nothing like that. Sure, marching bands perform. But the backdrop is the stunning Edinburgh Castle, the performers are military bands from around the world and the show lasts for 90 minutes. Virtually everyone is transfixed. It took my breath away.
The Tattoo was the highlight of the cruise for many of us on the Nieuw Statendam. I had never heard of a military tattoo until 2022 when the event was offered through the Volendam during its summer in Northern Europe. We lost the opportunity to go when the cruise was canceled, so this time I jumped on it.
The show opened per tradition with the Massed Pipes and Drums, an ensemble of military and civilian bands, dramatically entering from the castle.
They reappeared at times during the evening, joined by fiddlers and Highland dancers. All 800 performers came together for the final performance, as fireworks exploded and drones flew overhead to mark the Tattoo’s 75th anniversary.
Each year’s show carries its own theme (this year: The Heroes Who Made Us) and the participants may vary, but it’s always known for its pipes (bagpipes, as we would say) and drums, stirring music, precision marching and dancers.
Among the special performers this year was the Ukraine Naval Forces Orchestra, which brought the crowd of 8,000 to its feet. It and the Band of the Polish Guard featured dancers as well as musicians.
The U.S. Air Force Honor Guard drill team performed a perfect routine of weapon maneuvers, tosses and a gauntlet of spinning weapons.
The Top Secret Drum Corps from Switzerland returned this year, apparently a repeat crowd favorite, and showed the same military precision both in drumming and marching.
My iPhone photographs and video (condensed for the blog) don’t deliver the up-close excitement of the Tattoo – but just search YouTube and you’ll get a better idea of what it was like. It won’t convey the emotions this descendant of Scotland felt at times.
I bought the more expensive of the Holland America ticket options, figuring it was a one-time extravagance, and found myself at the top row of one corner, just outside the VIP section at the end of the horseshoe-shaped stands. (See the X inside the red circle.)
I had a great view from my high perspective, but I think the slightly less expensive side tickets would have been fine, just different. It seems to me that there aren’t any bad seats.
About 300 of us booked the Holland America excursion, paying as much as $380 for tickets. Others paid about half that amount for tickets bought on the official website, but arranged their own transportation. As I am traveling alone, I played it safe, not wanting to end the evening stressed over fighting crowds, finding transportation and getting back by to the final tender by 12:30 a.m.
Before the show some performers came out to mingle with the crowds on the esplanade, posing for pictures and giving an up-close view of their uniforms and costumes. As the sun set, the crowd quickly dispersed to the seats.
And where does the name “tattoo” come from? Apparently, from a Dutch phrase used to describe the moment when a military regiment’s drum call signaled to tavern owners to turn off their taps.
When we arrived at our Edinburgh anchorage early in the morning, my weather radar app showed an approaching rainstorm, so I waited to tender ashore.
This time we weren’t at the usual Queensferry tender port but at Newhaven, which is closer to the city. From Newhaven, a tram can take you to the center city near the Royal Mile – the mostly pedestrian and always busy street from the castle. Instead, I walked from the tender pier to the Royal Yacht Britannia, but arrived too late to tour.
Tomorrow is our last sea day before arriving in Dover and then Rotterdam, both turnaround ports to end this voyage and pick up new passengers for the next.
We stopped in Edinburgh in 2017, but our visit was a week before the Tattoo. Even though we missed the event, we were impressed by the amount of temporary seating that had been erected. Impressive!
Thank you, Jo, for the videos. What fun this must be!
Debbie
We went to the Tattoo last year and agree that it was an incredible experience. It was definitely the highlight of our trip to Scotland.
This was one of those “once in a lifetime” events. Back in 1978, I was stationed in Heidelberg with my first husband. I was invited to attend Queen Elizabeth’s birthday tattoo in Berlin as the guest of the British attaché to Fifth Army (long story but in a nutshell, I treated his adolescent daughter and he was grateful. Because of Bill’s position, we couldn’t drive thru East Germany to Berlin, so we went on the overnight British duty train (run by the British army). West Berlin was still divided into American, French and British sectors. I remember being totally awestruck by the Tattoo performance itself….with Gurkhas from,Nepal, and teams of horse drawn cannons performing choreographed “dances”. And the bands!! Oh my. The evening culminated in a formal ball where I danced with Ambassadors, attachés, and other military officers. It was quite the once in a lifetime experience. The Edinburgh Tattoo is still on my “Must Do” lists….this time with Ed!
That sounds like a wonderful opportunity, Jo. About a dozen years ago I was able to attend a US Army summertime tradition called the “Twilight Tattoo” which takes place near Arlington Cemetery/Fort Myer, VA. There were different US regimental units including the routines your described so well, “weapon maneuvers, tosses and a gauntlet of spinning weapons.” There are even performances in historically accurate uniforms of the Revolutionary War. If you plan to be in the DC area on a Wednesday evening in June or July , plan early for the free tickets. I wonder if the program year for 2026 will be extended with more performances for the semiquincentennial?
Julie
When I saw the Tattoo years ago the final number was the ” lone Piper” at the top of the castle parapet and as he played a fog rolled in adding to the scene making it even more special.
Thanks for sharing your pictures.
I had had the Royal Edinburgh Tatoo on my bucket list for years and finally got to go in August of 2023 when I was on the Neuiw Statendam. I was on with friends and we signed up for the HAL excursion over a year in advance as soon as we signed up for the cruise. As with you, the pipes stirred my Scottish soul! But I loved every minute of it. It would have been very special to be at the 75th Anniversary. It was fun to watch your videos and relive moments from the Tatoo. Thanks.
I would’ve loved to see this, guess I should’ve stayed on the ship.
I marched in a drum and bugle corp for six years and that’s where I met John. All my closest friends are still from those days. It was a wonderful way to spend our summers.