More than 800 performers will fly into Brisbane from across the world on Saturday as the city prepares for an epic highland fling.
The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo will take place in Brisbane next week for the first time in its 75-year history, with four performances at Suncorp Stadium from February 12 to 15.
Musicians and dancers from 13 countries will be joined by more than 33 tonnes of equipment, says creative director Alan Lane. “That’s an awful lot of bagpipes and uniforms.”
With an additional 300 local performers, Lane, an army reservist, said the logistics were “extraordinary”.
“I need to make sure that when I start rehearsals on Monday morning, I’ve got all 1100 in the country, and then after that, we move very quickly over three days to rehearse the show.”
Brisbane International Airport head of terminal operations Stacey Pollard said it was working closely with airlines to facilitate the arrival of the performers, as well as 38,000 visitors.
“Passengers from regional and interstate are coming to Brisbane, which is great for our tourism,” she said.
According to Tourism and Events Queensland, the event is expected to generate $39 million for the state’s economy.
More than 30 bands and cultural groups will perform in the show, titled The Heroes Who Made Us.
Groups from the UK, New Zealand, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Tonga, the US and Australia will take part.
Drum major Alexander Middlemis, 17, will lead the Brisbane Boys’ College band during the mass pipes and drums.
“I love drumming, I’ve been doing pipe band all my life,” he said. “This is a great finale to my year at school, being able to play in the tattoo in my home town.”
Middlemis will wear the tartan of the Clan Maclean, whose colours of green, white and black match the school’s colours.
First staged in 1950, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is performed to a live audience of almost 230,000 annually on the Esplanade of Edinburgh Castle, Scotland, with a further 100 million TV viewers worldwide.
Lane said the word “tattoo” came from the Dutch phrase doe den tap toe, a signal for innkeepers to turn off the beer taps and stop serving soldiers.
“The Edinburgh Tattoo began after the Second World War when things were really tight and we needed a bit of fun, so the army sent military bands to cheer people up,” he said.
The Suncorp Stadium shows will involve the largest LED screen in Australia – 45 metres by 20 metres – projecting images of Edinburgh Castle.
After the Brisbane shows, the performers and their gear will travel on four charter flights to New Zealand, using two Boeing 737-800 freighters.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
