For most people, a tattoo is either an attractive body decoration or a regrettable mistake.
However, a traditional tattoo is an event worth travelling for.
The 11th annual Okanagan Military Tattoo takes place May 25 and 26 at Kal Tire Place in Vernon.
For years the tattoo was held on the last weekend of July, however, the date was moved forward by two months to avoid the smoke and poor air quality from wildfires that have plagued the region and affected tattoo ticket sales in recent years.
A tattoo – a term that predates the body marking - is a demonstration of military drumming, piping and parading, full of fanfare, pomp and pageantry.
The name originally comes from the Dutch phrase for “turn off the tap.”
Drummers used to be sent out at night to call curfew, essentially letting the tavern owners know they needed to stop serving drinks and send the soldiers back to their quarters.
The phrase is “doe den tap toe” which was shortened to “tap-too,” which was anglicized by the British soldiers into “tattoo.”
They brought the idea back to the United Kingdom and the tradition of the tattoo was born.
“At the Okanagan Military Tattoo, we’ve added a bit to that,” said vice president and co-founder Derek Hall. “We’ve taken it inside, we’ve added professional lighting and sound, we’ve added some pageantry, some dancers, some athletes and a 100-voice choir. So there is something for everybody.”
The Okanagan Military Tattoo is the only tattoo event in western North America. Organizers hope it will soon rival large tattoo events in Halifax, Basil and even Edinburgh.
The show provides two hours of heart pounding, fast paced family entertainment with over 400 performers and involves more than 125 volunteers.
This year’s theme is The Sounds of Celebration and the show will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day and celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Canadian Armed Forces.
Tickets are now on sale at 250-549-7469 or TicketSeller.ca.
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