Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo: Organisers aim for sell-out after two thirds of tickets are snapped up

Organisers of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo have revealed they are hoping to sell out this year’s event after two-thirds of the available seats were snapped up months in advance.

They are hoping to bring full houses back to the event, which sold out for 20 consecutive seasons before the pandemic, based on early demand to see the three-week event this summer.

Ticket sales for the long-running spectacular were launched in August last year for the first time, nearly four months earlier than normal, with the first 50,000 tickets pegged at 2022 prices to encourage the event’s most loyal fans to buy their seats.

Advance tickets for this year are said to be tracking well ahead of 2022, when 92 per cent of the 220,000 tickets were eventually snapped up.

Two thirds of tickets for this year's Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo have already been snapped up.

Highlights of the 2023 show, which will be inspired by stories, myths and legends from around the world, will include music from computer gaming soundtracks and the “great American songbook”, limbo dancing and voodoo routines, and a William Tell-inspired sequence.

Lynsey Fusco, head of marketing at the Tattoo, said: “We set a target of selling 85 per cent of tickets for the 2022 show and at this point last year had sold just over 50 per cent. We had to work really hard to sell 92 per cent our tickets, as it was a very different year.

“We’re really fortunate as a lot of our audience returns year after year, but post-Covid things were just different. People were buying tickets later, some people went on holiday in August and the international market was just opening up again.

“It was harder for us as we had to monitor and adapt to all of those changes and also judge where you hold your nerve and respond to what you’re seeing. There was also a lot of travel disruption in the UK at the time.

Tattoo dancers Laynie Seaton and Rosey Watt with Senior Drum Major Allan Campbell.

"We decided to go on sale for the first time ever in August last year and protect 50,000 of them at the 2022 pricing level, which completely sold out in October, even though that involved all manner of packages and seats.”

Ms Fusco said the Tattoo had to work to tackle a wrong public perception the event normally sold out months in advance. She added: “It’s still a really tough market, the backdrop is challenging with the cost of living and people have choices to make.

"But things have been going very positively so far this year. We’re really pleased to have sold 148,000 tickets at this point. But we never rest on our laurels and we’re definitely aiming to have a sell-out event this year.”

The Royal Air force will take centre stage in this year’s production, entitled Stories, which will also feature the United States Air Force Band, Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force Steel Orchestra, the Swiss Armed Forces Central Band and the Norwegian King’s Guard Band and Drill Team.

Tattoo chief executive Buster Howes said: “The Tattoo is distinctive, iconic and gleeful. It has mass, momentum and energy. Stories will have all these qualities, as well as being whimsical, exhilarating and surprising.

"We are, as children, inspired by accounts of resilience, adventure and heroism, universal themes reinterpreted the world over. Edinburgh Castle is surely a perfect backdrop for all such narratives.”