WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE CAPE TOWN MILITARY TATTOO: MILITARY SUNSET CONCERT  18 & 19 NOVEMBER 2011, BOOKINGS AT COMPUTICKET

              Cape Town Military Tattoo                                                                                                           Comrades in Arms

History of the Military Tattoo

The Cape Town Military Tattoo(CTMT) started with seasons in 2003 and 2004, but for various reasons was not staged again until 2007. But now it is well under way again, and is scheduled to take place in 2011 and beyond.

The tattoo is structured on the same lines as tattoos elsewhere in the world, but its avowed aim is to grow into a truly South African military event that is structured on traditional lines but will concentrate on acts from Cape Town, South Africa and the rest of Africa. 

The word "tattoo" Is derived from a centuries-old military ritual which originated in the Low Countries during the 80 Years' War in the 16* and 17^th Centuries, when patrols would be sent out near nightfall to warn off-duty soldiers in the taverns that it was time to return to their barracks.

At each tavern the tavern-keeper would be told: "Doe den tap toe!" (close the taps on your beer-barrels). All the armies fighting in the Low Countries adopted this practice, and as the centuries passed the nightly ritual became known by various names - such as "tattoo" in English, "taptoe” in Dutch and "Zapfenstreich" in German, and turned into a unique form of military show business.

The idea is eventually to provide a unique spectacle featuring acts that are hardly ever seen abroad and which will eventually showcase our country and our continent. At this stage, with the fifth of the CTMT series about to be presented, this aim is coming closer.

According to a spokesman for the Tattoo Committee, the tattoo is wholeheartedly supported by the SANDF because in addition to being an intriguing bit of military show business, it also has a more serious aim that serves the national interest.

It has a greater purpose, to foster the image of the South African National Defence Force, to build bridges between the armed forces and the community, and to highlight the on-going rejuvenation of the SANDF to ensure that it will be able to ward off any future threats to the country's sovereignty, which might arise.

An important part of this process is to engage the affection, respect and support of the community at large – to project the message that the SANDF is a people’s Defence Force to be proud of. One way of doing this is to present a tattoo which is both entertaining and instructive, and this is why the tattoo’s permanent theme is “Comrades in Arms”.

The audience response to previous tattoos shows that it is succeeding in its purpose, and all seats were sold out before the first performance had even taken place, and it is beginning to attract international notice.  

The outreach project extends even further, to engage the attention and respect of our neighboring countries, South Africa’s partners in the transformation of Africa itself.

Experience elsewhere has also shown that mounting a first-class tattoo is an invaluable long-term strategy for growing the tourism industry – the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, for example, is directly or indirectly responsible for a large slice of Scotland’s tourist spend … and the organizers here make no bones about their belief that if the series continues after 2010 Cape Town into the Edinburgh of Africa.

The emphasis on “military” is quite intentional. The tattoo concept is essentially a child of the military. It started centuries ago with the evening patrols that used to be sent out in garrison towns to recall soldiers from the taverns for the last parade of the day. From this it gradually grew into a unique form of entertainment that can only be provided by the armed forces’ involvement.

For example, a perennially popular feature of the CTMT is the massed-band performance of an excerpt from Tchaikovsky’s famed 1812 Overture, the only piece of music to incorporate actual gunfire in its score. At most performances of the “1812” the gun-fire is simulated on kettle-drums - but the CTMT plays it the way Tchaikovsky intended it to be played, with real field guns of the Cape Field Artillery’s renowned Saluting Troop roaring at intervals in the music.

 Like its predecessors, this year’s CTMT will consist of a mixture of musical and non-musical acts, mainly but not exclusively military in nature, which draws on both the past and present aspects of Cape Town’s and South Africa’s diverse military and social history and culture.  

As one organizer has remarked, a military tattoo is like a sosatie – none of its series of short acts is like the one immediately before or the one immediately after it.

The idea is to send members of the audience home with a pleasant amount of visual and sensory overload which will bring them back again in the years to come. It’s working already, as was proved last year – and the Castle and the Defence Reserve Office are already being flooded with telephone calls from would-be spectators who want to know when tickets for this year’s show will be available. 

One of the principal stars of the show will be the beautiful old Castle of Good Hope itself. So far all the Cape Town Military Tattoos have been held inside the wonderfully atmospheric “Voorplein” or front bailey – with the Castle being as much of a participant as any of the acts, rather than just a marvelous venue. 

The men and women behind the tattoo belong to a dedicated team of full-time, part-time and retired military personnel contribute an enormous range of diverse skills and experience in many fields. Some have participated in various international tattoos, and the leaders of the production team are the only South Africans actually to have been trained at the world-famous Edinburgh Military Tattoo and the Nova Scotia International Tattoo.

And they’re all doing it for the sheer love of it. If any eventing company were to hire such a range of skills and talents it would have to lay out a six-figure sum.