Background on 30th Anniversary Tattoo

May 20, 2009, Halifax, NS: It began as a military ‘last call’. In 17th century Dutch villages, drummers marched through the streets summoning soldiers to return to their quarters from evening gatherings in taverns and inns. A drumbeat signaling innkeepers to ‘doe den tap toe’ or ‘turn off the taps’, was eventually shortened to ‘tap too’ and finally to ‘tattoo’.

During the 18th century, the Tattoo retained its military purpose, becoming part of military reviews and ceremonial occasions. It had become part of the daily regimental routine and eventually evolved into part of grand public spectacles involving marching bands and military tournaments.

After World War One in Aldershot, Britain’s largest military station, the Tattoo took on a new and expanded form, incorporating massed bands and military displays. In Fredericton, June 1959, the pageant ‘Soldiers of the Queen’ marked a revival of the ceremonial tattoo. Being described as ‘one of the most colourful and ambitious military spectacles in the history of Canada,’ this production proved to be the formative ancestor of the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo.

There was no encore of ‘Soldiers of the Queen’. However, in 1962 Ian Fraser was recruited as part of a team to create the Canadian Tattoo for the Seattle World’s Fair. Even though this particular Tattoo came with its share of challenges, it garnered publicity across the United States and was packed for every performance.

Two years following the success in Seattle, planning began for the Canadian Armed Forces Tattoo, which would be part of the 1967 centennial celebrations. Fraser wrote, produced and directed this production. The cast totaled seventeen hundred, traveled on two special trains and performed at forty-eight locations across the nation; still holding the title of being the largest touring show in the world.

In 1979, a little over ten years after the centennial celebrations, it was proposed that there would be a Tattoo to open the International Gathering of the Clans scheduled to take place in Nova Scotia. This show, which was planned in less than six months, was just the beginning of a long line of Tattoos that would take place in Nova Scotia. Starting out as a single day event to welcome Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (due to popular demand, it actually ran for two), this show evolved into a culturally significant, economically important and critically acclaimed nine day production; a mainstay in the Halifax Regional Municipality.

With the recurring theme ‘Bond of Friendship’ woven into The Nova Scotia Tattoo each year, warm international relationships were quick to form and continued to strengthen year after year. In recognition of how much the show had evolved since 1979 on an international level, the name formally changed to The Nova Scotia International Tattoo in 1988.

2006 saw the 28th production and another formal name change to the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo when, on her 80th birthday, Her Majesty The Queen granted the Tattoo ‘Royal’ status. The show has been seen by well over 1,000,000 spectators and hosted tens of thousands of performers from 23 countries. It generates tens of millions in economic impact annually for the Province of Nova Scotia and the Halifax Regional Municipality.

A full history of the Tattoo up to 2003 can be found in the book ‘Gunpowder & Grease Paint’ by Brian Cuthbertson.

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