Tartan Day NYC 2025: Carnegie Hall Event

[OC Richard]

There is a Pipe Band, the official band of the Tattoo, called The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Pipes & Drums. https://www.edintattoo.co.uk/on-tour/pipes-and-drums

It began 20 or so years ago as "The Pipers Trail Pipes & Drums".

Due to the massive (and still ongoing) cutbacks in the British Army the number of military Pipes & Drums had fallen to what was deemed an insufficient number to put on the size of Tattoo Massed Pipes & Drums that the public had come to expect.

Somebody came up with the brilliant idea of creating an in-house Pipes & Drums which exists solely for performing at the Tattoo.

It's a civilian all-volunteer band. Pipers and drummers audition online, are sent the music to be played, and show up a week prior to the start of the Tattoo for intensive rehearsals and to be kitted out. At the end of the Tattoo everyone turns in their kit and flies home. The members come from all over the world. It's a big band, I think some years it's around 60 or 70 members.

The Pipe Major is the brilliant Australian piper Alisdair McLaren (bottom left below, he's always smiling!) who for a time was running the Scottish National Youth Pipes & Drums, and gave a bagpipe lesson to King Charles. If you want something done right you put him in charge.

What I don't know is if they would put together an off-season ad hoc Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Pipes & Drums for a one-off like the NYC parade.

I see on their website that they've put together a group to perform in Germany so it's possible.