Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Highland Military Tattoo needs a ‘fairy godmother’ with large cheque book

A spectacular fireworks display brought the Highland Military Tattoo at Fort George to a close.
A spectacular fireworks display brought the Highland Military Tattoo at Fort George to a close.

Local businesses have been urged to intervene to help resurrect the Highland Military Tattoo after organisers announced it is to be axed.

Inverness Provost Helen Carmichael urged companies to consider their “corporate social responsibilities” and to support the Highland Military Tattoo.

She added: “The inclusion of high quality year-round activities and events in the Inverness and the Highland tourism calendar are vital to the local economy.

“While we respect the decision of the board of directors of the Highland Military Tattoo, this is very sad news for the Highlands.”

Yesterday the tattoo organisers revealed that another event in 2018 would not go ahead primarily due to a financial shortfall, but also through staffing issues.

The cancellation comes despite the event attracting 6,174 people this year, which is up 843 on 2016 but still falls short of the 8,000 target.

Those low attendance rates, along with an anticipated increase in Ministry of Defence support costs, has left the finances too precarious to be sustainable.

Major General Seymour Monro, director of the Tattoo, said: “We would have to pay nearly twice as much, for half as much resources from the Ministry of Defence.

“It is not just financial worries but also staffing worries. We need a fairy godmother with a large cheque book plus the core team to stay who are at the end of their tethers.”

He defended the quality of the event saying: “We think it is an authentic gold standard tattoo that is right for the Highlands and right for Moray.”

The 2017 event proved the costliest, he said, adding: “We have come to the sad conclusion that it is not sustainable. Simply put, we needed more bums on seats and more sponsorship including a headline sponsor.

“I have nothing but praise for what the team have achieved. I hope that in the future it may be possible to hold a Tattoo in the Highlands again.”

General Monro concluded: “The people I feel most sorry for are the young performers who got such a kick out of it. You could see the cheerfulness in their faces – that is the sadness.”