Welcome
Welcome
to the Cape Town Military Tattoo’s 'Gateway to Africa', where you can find out
everything you want to know about the only regular annual military tattoo in
Africa.
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION ON THE CAPE TOWN MILITARY TATTOO 2010
The count-down has started
for the sixth Cape Town Military Tattoo, which will be presented at the Castle
of Good Hope on 3-6 November this year, and the tattoo production team is hard at work preparing a
programme intended to entertain and educate Capetonians and visitors from all
over the country and beyond its borders, as only the military can.
This
year the main theme will be "Come home to Africa", which will pay
tribute to the unsung heroes.
Primarily funded by the South African National Defence Force and supported by
the Cape Town City Council, the Cape Town Military Tattoo is now well on the way
to becoming a fixture in the Mother City's annual calendar of events.
Scores of full-time and
part-time military personnel have been working for months to set up the
intricate processes which will culminate in that magic moment when trumpeters
sound a fanfare, muzzle-loading cannon belch smoke, noise and fire into the
darkened arena and the announcer says: "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to
the Cape Town Military Tattoo...
In old Cape Town, where the
Castle was the centre of most activities for many years, a drummer would be sent
up to the Leerdam Bastion near nightfall, where he would beat his drum for half
an hour to warn the off-duty soldiers of the Castle garrison that it was time to
return to their barracks for the evening parade and guard duties.
Like its predecessors, this
year's tattoo is like the traditional bridal outfit, something old, something
new, something borrowed, and something blue.
There will be
evergreen "repeat-customer" acts that Cape Town audiences love,
including the opening ceremony by the Castle Guard, the playing of
Tchaikovsky’s "1812" Overture, complete with thunderous fire from
the Cape Field
Artillery's Saluting Troop, and the lump-in-the-throat Final Muster, when a
kaleidoscope of performers comes together to wish the audience farewell.
Audiences
might be surprised at some of the music. There will be the usual foot-tapping
traditional military marches, but the Tattoo Director of Music, Major Martin
Chandler, is also working in some famous old tunes, which are embedded in the
Cape
's
heritage.
The
audience response to previous tattoos shows that it is succeeding in its
purpose, in 2007, 2008 and 2009 all seats were sold out before the first
performance had even taken place, and it is beginning to attract international
notice.
As
in previous years, booking will take place through Computicket, starting a few
weeks before the tattoo, with any leftover tickets being sold at the door
immediately before each performance. But the surest way to prevent
disappointment is to pre-book, since space inside the Castle is limited.
Information
Pricing of Tickets
