{{Use British English, date=July 2015 Birmingham International Tattoo Grand Finale 2010

The Birmingham Tattoo is held annually at the Utilita Arena, previously known as the Barclaycard Arena, and previously before that known as the

National Indoor Arena Arena Birmingham (known for sponsorship reasons as Utilita Arena Birmingham, and previously as The Barclaycard Arena and originally as the National Indoor Arena) is an indoor arena and sporting venue in central Birmingham, United Kingdom. It ...

in the centre of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The

military tattoo A military tattoo is a performance of music or display of armed forces in general. The term comes from the early 17th-century Dutch phrase ''doe den tap toe'' ("turn off the tap"), a signal sounded by drummers or trumpeters to instruct innkeeper ...

features massed

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the tit ...

s, and displays. The event takes place for two performances in November each year. The event has been held since 1989 and has attracted performers from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

as well as British bands from the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

King's Division The King's Division was a British Army command, training and administrative apparatus designated for infantry regiments in the North of England. History The King's Division was formed in 1968 with the union of the Lancastrian Brigade, Yorkshi ...

and

Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Gorkhas and are recruit ...

s. The Birmingham Tattoo features traditional military music, field gun racing, dancers, dog display teams and one of the largest gatherings of standard bearers with around 120 standards on parade at each performance. Each year the event raises money at each performance for the Royal Star and Garter Homes who provide care homes for disabled ex-Service men and women. Over £93,000 has been donated to the charity since 2008.

External links

Birmingham Tattoo website

Birmingham Tattoo YouTube videos

Military Music Spectaculars
Festivals in Birmingham, West Midlands Military tattoos Annual events in the United Kingdom