Dusk has settled on Edinburgh Castle and now a laser beam is scribbling a route across its ramparts and high into the sky. The voice of actor Richard Rankin is talking solemnly about lonely soldiers answering a call, while a ferocious light rises in the gatehouse. Out of it emerge scores of drummers and pipers, their sound both melodic and awe-inspiring. They crisscross the esplanade to the stirring lament of The Skye Boat Song.
This is the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, an event often overlooked amid the festival cacophony – and yet its popularity eclipses any other event in the city. Last year, it played to 230,000 and raised £1.5m for charity. Like an outsize variety show, it is a formidable spectacle: fireworks, projections, flags dragged over the audience and a soundtrack that ranges from Carmen to Star Wars.
I speak to Susan from Aberdeen who is here with her daughter for the third year in a row. They love the highland dancing. “The atmosphere is amazing,” she says, delighted to be back. From New Zealand, Francesca tells me she is staying with family in Glasgow and is here for the night. “It’s a bucket-list item,” she says. “I was going to go when it toured to Auckland in February but I was told I had to see the original one first.” [READ MORE]