The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Reviews 

Iv been going to the Edinburgh with my carer and brother for so many years now at least 9 years of fun and week away and in a electric wheelchair allways book disabled seats for my wheelchair however 2026 tattoo as left me horrified iv saved up for a year now just to surport Edinburgh. Never again 😒 I got comfortable with my electric wheelchair and a full time carer 4 minutes latter a steward come to me shouting at me saying am in the wroung seats 💺 I experienced full on attack from him telling me to get out of my electric wheelchair and climb the stairs to a seat ? I explained i could not welk and his reply was am not his problem if I dont go ill have to leave the tattoo 🙃 now am haveing a full on panic attack ' iv spent over £1000 just to be humiliated and abused by him . So Another man come over and said to my full time carer he would put me over the other side. From bay 15 to number 5. Crying now as thay said no were for me ? Going over to number 5 was so so scary 😨 on my own missed 25 minutes of the show a young lady steward ask me if ok i told her the reason for me crying and she moved my party of 4 round to me. The show was not good as usual staff so rude couldn't believe how the place as gone down hill. Allso we noticed no wheelchair users in the front row ???? The seats was full of able body people ????? Disappointed upset traumatised.

Just watched this on TV.

I was really looking forward to seeing a display of military marching, music and pageantry.
I got some military displays but to be honest most of it was so far from the tattoo's origins that it was almost embarrassing.
Poor (or any!) cover versions of hits really shouldn't be part of this.

The problem with taking an event that is so different and iconic and making into another dance and singing show is that it is no longer unique. It's just another music show that can be seen just about anywhere.

I sincerely hope that they return to the full military origins that made this so popular

In 7 years attending Tattoo never been so disappointed in what used to be a great night out. Bring back the old traditions, instead of the crap we witnessed this year. Wont be back. Tickets over 200£ plus 340.Hotel not value for money
Really gutted

Generally rubbish, and embarrassing all round. The Director of this nonsense should not be let near the tattoo ever again.

I enjoyed it but thought it missed the mark compared to previous years. You cannot charge so much for an inferior production because people will stop attending. The dancers were very good but the visiting bands from other countries were a disappointment

I honestly don’t understand where all these bad reviews of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo are coming from. The show was absolutely tremendous — genuinely spectacular. Reading some of the complaints, you’d think these people weren’t even at the same event. It’s just sad, really. I'm going next year and so we'll most of the other people that were out of this year.

Not really a military tattoo mainly dancers and trying to make it a west end show quite boring

I just wasted an hour watching this on TV and obviously expected to see a MILITARY based event such as it once was.Instead we were given and end-of-pier show combined with a village carnival.

Having been to the tattoo for about 15 years, the last 2 years have very disappointing..last night's especially was nothing but bands with no in-between relief. A complete and utter bore. Obviously no-one reads these reviews to get feedback. Might as well have been at bandcamp. Will not be back to an overpriced band show.

This is our 3rd tattoo and by far the worst, we upgraded to the piper package at £250 pp which is a complete waste of time and money, the food was average at best, it was advertised as miss the queues, complete lie, queue to get in, queue to walk up the stairs, queue at the top of the stairs and to top it off queue to get in. The wine paired courses is 1 x 250ml glass of cheap wine for all courses, the prosecco welcome drink is either a full glass or a half a glass, depending on what your given, the host at the meal did make a speach, however none of our table could hear what was said?.
The apparent upgraded seats were terrible, right on the top tier, as for the tattoo itself, it was a dance show with pipers, it had nothing to do with the military. The organisers have completely lost there way, it was rubbish. The whole point of the Tattoo is to showcase different nations army's,bands, military shows. This is our last tattoo. On the plus side the fringe was fantastic.

Been to many tattoos and this was by far the worst I have ever seen and my family had the same opinion. It should have been retitled the edingburgh dance show and even the mass pipes and drums was smaller than usual, couldn't wait for the show to finish. Will definitely not be attending next year even though we are going to the festival.

Have been to the Tattoo once before back in early 2000.Poured with rain all evening but the experience was fantastic. There was so much variation with an assortment of different acts to keep you entertained. Forward 20 odd years and bar the pipe bands and highland dancing this turned into nothing more than a band(s) march and along with a background narrative from Ewan Mcgreggor which most of the audience wouldn't have had a clue what it was about became a bore fest. God knows who decided to make such a change but for me it was a failure. Sorry for appearing so negative but I'm being honest..

Very disappointed, I took my wife as she has never been, I went around 50 years ago, it was fantastic then, with stunt riders, horses, guns and everything you would expect from a military show. But, all we saw last night was matching bands and not so good singers. I enjoyed the Fringe festival more. Also no idea why they closed the walkways to the right and left when you're exiting, we all were crammed walking down the royal mile. Will not be coming back.

Drivel- what a disappointment.

It’s been a while since I went to the Tattoo and I thought about avoiding it this year, in large part because ticket prices were ludicrous. That will explain the swathes of empty seats other than in the VVIP freebie area! Some seats were £1600!

The show consisted entirely of military musical bands from Qatar, New Zealand, Germany, the USA and the U.K. they were pedestrian at best and down right dull for much of the show. Not that didn’t try hard they did, and were talented in their own right. There was just too much of it.

There were dancing girls in Scottish dress, silver lamie and cowboy hats. Yawn! There was a single sword dancer who looks lost in an arena of that size.

No fireworks, no gun hauling, motor bikes or anything that one would traditionally associate with the tattoo.

A call to gather turned into a host of departures all around us as the 90 minute borefest dragged on.

Apparently they have a new production company. They are rubbish!

Positives- the weather was good and the toilets clean!

A shadow of the Tattoo it once was

I have attended the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in the past and remember it as a genuinely spine-tingling experience. It was far more than an evening of entertainment. It was a celebration of military excellence, Scottish tradition, music, discipline and national pride.

The precision rifle drill of the King of Norway’s Guard, the magnificent massed pipes and drums of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, the international military bands and the sheer spectacle of the Edinburgh Castle setting made it an event of which you could be genuinely proud.

Most memorable of all were the traditions that gave the Tattoo its soul.

The Esplanade would fall silent as the lone piper appeared on the castle ramparts and played The Flowers of the Forest. The audience would then come together for Auld Lang Syne. There was also a time when the audience was invited to stand and sing God Save the King. These were not meaningless extras — they created an emotional connection between the performers and the thousands of people watching.

Those traditions now appear to have been lost.

That is deeply disappointing. An event with such a remarkable heritage should be protecting and celebrating its traditions, not gradually removing the very elements that made it distinctive.

What concerns me even more is the overall change in character. In my view, the Tattoo no longer has the same sense of authenticity, military pride and emotional impact that it once had. It increasingly feels like a commercial production rather than the magnificent celebration of our Armed Forces and allied forces that I remember.

And then there is customer service.

I find the apparent lack of response to customers who take the time to leave reviews on Trustpilot particularly disappointing. When people spend considerable amounts of money on tickets and associated costs, they deserve to feel that their concerns are being heard and taken seriously. Silence does not create confidence.

The difficulties I have experienced with the company providing ticket insurance have added considerably to my frustration. Insurance is supposed to provide reassurance when circumstances prevent someone from attending. When the claims process feels unnecessarily difficult, the whole purpose of purchasing that cover is called into question.

I am writing this because I genuinely care about the Tattoo and what it represents. I remember when leaving the Esplanade meant feeling emotional, exhilarated and immensely proud. It was an experience that stayed with you.

The Tattoo still has one of the greatest stages in the world, an extraordinary military heritage and the ability to create something truly unforgettable.

Please don’t allow commercial considerations and the pursuit of revenue to come at the expense of the traditions, atmosphere and military excellence that made the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo famous in the first place.

Bring back the soul of the Tattoo. Protect its traditions. Listen to your customers. And remember what made this event great.

Very disappointing - our first visit absolutely ruined by Alan Lane who has some extremely warped concepts about what a military tatoo should be! Where were the normally to be expected disciplined drill routines and military bands? This was a shambles with little girls in skirts dancing a lot and not very well!!! The USA got to play and sing rock music with no drill routines and not even any good music! also who thought Qatar was a good idea but at least they tried with some drill. The RAF was the only part of the night worth the money.

What a disappointment. Flew over from Norway 4 years ago and it was absolutely awesome. Seems the military part has been severely toned down. The lone piper was not even happening as before, no big start. The Scottish traditions toned down. Participants like US marines added nothing other than some musical show. I did like the RAF and contribution from Germany and New Zealand, but their part was too short. They also spent 20+ mins on presenting participants which felt like they had to fill the 90 mins. The whole show felt more like a product than a show showing military traditions. They just was to sell tickets for money and not proudly showing the pipe bands and Scottish. A lot of money wasted on a disappointing show.

My last visit to the tattoo was 20+ years ago so was excited to take my English friend to show her what it was all about
What a disappointment. The precision marching and the pipes and drums were excellent but then it descended into some type of second rate musical show.
Tickets are expensive and I expected better.

I can honestly say that I will never attend such an event again I treated my sister to The Royal Edinburgh Tattoo I wish I hadn't bothered, this event was supposed to be a complete Sell out that's a big lie as there was spare seats beside me and in other parts of the castle, it cost me hundred s of pounds, there was elderly people sitting behind us me and my sister and they kept complaining about me recording and making it difficult for them to see I lowered my camera but they kept pocking me which was spoiling the show me and my sister moved seats as there was two to my right hand side remember this was supposed to be a complete sell out event!
Even though me and my sister moved seats it didn't stop people behind us being really difficult I was being told to put my camera away loads of people were filming this event I didn't keep recording because I wasn't impressed with what was happening at the event this was so different to (my own previous experience when I attended on my own I sat in a different location in the stadium and the event was different the entire event was amazing compared to what we have recently experienced I'm absolutely gutted I promised my sister an amazing evening it was terrible.

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience of the tattoo again this year. Very impressed with the RAF band and Colour Squadron - brought tears to my eyes. As usual the pipes and drums provided the atmosphere for the event and was impressed with their support of the other acts. NZ and German Koblenz bands were excellent. Of the foreign contingents the Quatri band and drill team were most impressive. The US Army display was frankly rubbish and disappointing compared to their previous contributions. Too much dancing (which I appreciate is traditional) at the expense of more military involvement. Security, stewarding and arena support staff were good. Disappointed by the price of drinks available. The choreography of the final muster was brilliant.