Edinburgh Castle comes to Sydney



This was published 11 years ago

Edinburgh Castle comes to Sydney

Sydney Football Stadium is a world away from Scotland but a $1 million replica of Edinburgh Castle will ensure Australian audiences get the full experience of the Edinburgh military tattoo.

Made up of more than 1500 performers, the military tattoo will open at the Sydney stadium tonight.

The producer of the spectacle, Major-General Euan Loudon, said he was delighted with the recreation of the castle.

"There's no doubt that a football stadium is not the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle, where the setting is so important," he said during a dress rehearsal yesterday.

"You can't get a more perfect atmosphere. It's such a magical experience, which is why we have made such an effort [to replicate it].

"It is epic. It does so much to create an impression in the minds of those who haven't been there."

The castle serves as a backdrop to the performers, who come from 11 countries including Australia, Britain, Trinidad and Tobago, Ireland, Russia and, for first time, China, which is sending a 100-strong military band.

Opening with Australia's Federation Guard in spectacular style, shooting their rifles in unison, the tattoo has a mix of flavours from traditional Scottish pipes, to 18th-century American military music, to the world's only military steel band - the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force Steel Orchestra.

It is only the third time in the tattoo's 60-year history that it has been performed outside of Edinburgh.

It was performed in Sydney in 2005 to sell-out crowds, and Loudon said he was thrilled to be back for the performance, the largest tattoo yet.


"This is certainly the biggest thing we've done in 60 years," he said.

Loudon said he hoped nobody left "without having their heart-strings pulled a little and also tapping their feet".

The event is watched by about a billion people on television.

"Who would've thought 60 years on it would grow into the thing it is today?" Loudon said.

He said he was also delighted to see how friendships had been formed between members of the military bands, with some, especially from Moscow and China, having been nervous and self-conscious at first.


The Edinburgh Military Tattoo - Celebrating 60 Years of Valour, Mateship and Glory will take take place until Sunday.


Most Viewed in National