By BRIAN FERGUSON
Organisers of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo
aim to increase the global TV audience of the event to more than a
billion – with lucrative new agreements in China and India.
Brigadier David Allfrey, chief executive and producer of
the event, has unveiled ambitious plans to secure long-running
broadcast deals with the two countries. The move – expected to coincide
with the appearance of more Indian and Chinese performers in the event –
would see the number of viewers rise tenfold from its present level.
Plans
to greatly expand the global reach of the event were announced as it
emerged the Tattoo is set to sell out in advance for the first time in
five years – despite its opening weekend clashing with the Commonwealth
Games.
Organisers have revealed sales are running around 8,000
ahead of last year, with 97 per cent of seats already snapped up ahead
of yesterday’s official launch, when details of the programme were
announced.
Last year’s event did not sell out until around two weeks into the run at the Castle Esplanade.
The
Tattoo opens on Thursday night, with its dress rehearsal, with another
three performances due to be held before the Commonwealth Games in
Glasgow draw to a close on Sunday.
The event – which is being held
for the 65th year – has sold out for the last 15 years in a row, but is
viewed by a further 100 million people in around 45 countries thanks to
coverage filmed by the BBC.
Brigadier Allfrey said: “We are one
of four really big offerings that BBC Music record every year, along
with the Proms season, the Glastonbury Festival and Radio One’s Big
Weekend, and our programme is already licensed out to a huge number of
territories around the world.
“I have a real interest in the
developing markets, particularly in India and China, where there is an
enormous number of people who are tremendously interested in our
offering.
“We think there is a real opportunity to reach a
stronger audience by working with the two state broadcasters in each of
these countries.
“The real interest is in the years to come,
where Scotland’s relationship with these great economies is set to grow.
I want to make sure the Tattoo is presented to both Indian and Chinese
audiences in much the same way as it is in Australia, where the Tattoo
is shown every year on New Year’s Day.
“We want to ensure that
they take the programme every year, and in years to come we are talking
about acts from India and China. We are setting the conditions for
proper broadcast of those programmes, which we think will capture the
public imagination in those countries.”
Acts from South Africa,
the Caribbean, New Zealand, India and Singapore appear in this year’s
Tattoo, which runs until 23 August.
Highlights are expected to
include appearances from the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force Steel
Orchestra, the iNgobamakhosi Zulu Dance Troupe, from South Africa, the
Nagaland Folkloric Group, from north-east India, and a group of Shetland
Fiddlers.
Just 3,000 tickets remain on sale for this year’s
event, but Brigadier Allfrey warned these were expected to be quickly
snapped up, despite the huge
interest in the Games.
New Delhi, Jul 29 : A team of United Peoples Front (UPF), the umbrella Chin-Kuki-Mizo underground organisation, will be arriving here in New Delhi on Wednesday, July 30 for a meeting with the officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India. 
