Basel Tattoo is an annual

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 ...

show performed by International

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 ti ...

s, display teams, popular musicians, and tattoo formations in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

, Switzerland. Since 2006, Basel Tattoo has had annual stage-arena performances within the Basel Kaserne (old barracks) (now also known as Basel Tattoo Arena) and hosts two parades in July. The Basel Tattoo parade, with an estimated 125,000 visitors, is considered the largest event. Russen statt Engländer am Basel Tattoo 2012

Basler Zeitung ''Basler Zeitung'' (literally: "Basler Newspaper"), or ''BaZ'', is a Swiss German-language regional daily newspaper, published in Basel. History and profile ''Basler Zeitung'' was created in 1977 through the merger of the ''Basler Nachrichten ...

, written 2012-07-09, retrieved 2012-07-13

History

The Basel Tattoo was started in 2006 by the local

Top Secret Drum Corps Top Secret Drum Corps is a drum corps based in Basel, Switzerland. With 25 drummers and colour guard section, the corps became famous for its demanding six-minute routine performed at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in 2003. With its invit ...

. It has grown to be the world's second largest military tattoo in terms of performers and budget after the

Edinburgh Military Tattoo The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is an annual series of military tattoos performed by British Armed Forces, Commonwealth and international military bands, and artistic performance teams on the Esplanade of Edinburgh Castle in the capital of S ...

.Basel's tattoo spins to success
swissinfo.ch, written 2008-7-15, retrieved 2012-7-13 The event is now sponsored by the Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS), making it the official military tattoo of Switzerland. Top Secret Drum Corps

In 2008, the Basel Tattoo began holding a parade in Basel to showcase the performers to a wider audience. A second parade was added in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany the following year. Musiker von Basel Tattoo wirbeln Freiburg auf

Badische Zeitung The ''Badische Zeitung'' (''Baden Newspaper'') is a German newspaper based in Freiburg im Breisgau, covering the South Western part of Germany and the Black Forest region. It has a circulation of 145,825 and a readership of 409,000. The paper was ...

, written 2010-20-14, retrieved 2012-07-14 In 2012, the Basel Tattoo festival had about 2,000 performers and was seen by 260,000 people during 15 live stage-arena performances and two parades. ein riesen Publikumsmagnet

, written 2012-7-21, retrieved 2012-7-21 In 2014, 120,000 spectators attended the performances at Basel Tattoo Arena, 125,000 viewed the parades in Basel and Freiburg, and 450,000 viewers watched a televised presentation on

SRF 1 SRF 1 (''SRF eins'') is a German-language Swiss television channel, one of three produced by the SRG SSR public-service broadcasting group (the others being SRF zwei and SRF info). The channel, formerly known as SF1, was renamed on 16 Decemb ...

. In 2015, 15 arena performances in nine days will feature 30 performing acts from Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Oman, South Africa, South Korea, the United Kingdom (groups from England and Scotland) and the United States. One of the main highlights is expected to be the performances of the Blue Devils International Corps, a 97-member drum and bugle corps made up of alumni of the 16–time

Drum Corps International Drum Corps International (DCI) is a governing body for junior drum and bugle corps responsible for developing and enforcing rules of competition, and for providing standardized adjudication at sanctioned drum and bugle corps competitions througho ...

(DCI) world champion

Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps The Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps is a World Class competitive junior drum and bugle corps based in Concord, California. The Blue Devils are members of Drum Corps International (DCI). They have finished first or second since 2007, and have ...

Concord, California Concord ( ) is the largest city in Contra Costa County, California. According to an estimate completed by the United States Census Bureau, the city had a population of 129,295 in 2019 making it the eighth largest city in the San Francisco Bay ...

and eight other DCI World Class corps.

2015 performance

The eleventh annual Basel Tattoo had 30 formations from five continents giving 15 performances over nine days. From Friday, July 17 through Saturday, July 25, 2015, a total of 15 shows were planned with an estimated 120,000 visitors. Scheduled performers (2015): * 102 Battalion REME Pipes and Drums– United Kingdom * Ailsa Craig Highland Dancers– Scotland * Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland– Scotland * Basel Tattoo Choir– Switzerland * Basel Tattoo Garde– Switzerland * Basler Mittwoch-Gesellschaft– Switzerland * Blue Devils International Corps– United States * Castle Stars Irish Dancers– Ireland *

Chloë Agnew Chloë Alexandra Adele Emily Agnew (born 1989) is an Irish singer and songwriter, best known for being an original and former member of the Celtic music group Celtic Woman. Early life and career Agnew was born to Irish entertainer Adele " ...

– Ireland * Drums and Pipes of the Aberdeen Universities Officers' Training Corps– Scotland * Drums and Pipes of the Cape Town Highlanders– South Africa * Egon Eggemann– Switzerland * Fanfara 8th Regimento Bersaglieri– Italy * Imps Motorcycle Display Team– England * New Zealand Army Band– New Zealand * Pipes and Drums of the Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland– Scotland * Republic of Korea Air Force Band– South Korea * Royal Air Force of Oman Pipes and Drums– Oman * Royal Army of Oman Pipes and Drums– Oman * Scots Guards Association (Manchester) Pipes and Drums– England * Sektion Rhone– Switzerland * South Australia Pipes and Drums– Australia * Swiss Army Central Band– Switzerland * Swiss Highlanders– Switzerland * Temuka Pipe Band– New Zealand * The Band of The Household Cavalry– United Kingdom *

– Switzerland *

War Horse The first evidence of horses in warfare dates from Eurasia between 4000 and 3000 BC. A Sumerian illustration of warfare from 2500 BC depicts some type of equine pulling wagons. By 1600 BC, improved harness and chariot designs ...

– South Africa *

Will Martin Will Martin (born 31 August 1984) is a New Zealand-born classical crossover singer. Martin's first album, released in his native New Zealand, went platinum in 6 weeks. The album, called ''A New World'', featured songs such as "Into the West", "I ...

– New Zealand In addition to the stage performances in the Basel Kaserne (old barracks), the 2015 Basel Tattoo also has following shows: * Basel Tattoo parade in Basel * Basel Tattoo parade in Freiburg, Germany * Broadcast on SRF 1 Swiss television

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.baseltattoo.ch/
Tourism Basel
Military tattoos