KIRKCUDBRIGHT FLOODLIT TATTOO 2014 -DGWGO REVIEW

It was a warm sunny August evening for the 2014 Kirkcudbright Tattoo this year on Saturday the 23rd of August ! Team DGWGO had been invited along by the Kirkcudbright Summer festivities  team to see what it was all about . Myself , LC and MJ went along , It had been many years since I last went to one of the Kirkcudbright Tattoo’s , and this was the first time I had been since it had been moved to a Saturday evening instead of a Monday , and LC and MJ had never been to a Tattoo before at all !

With a crowd of 5000+ folk the move to change the event to a Saturday evening really seems to of payed off , and as it went on until 10.30pm it also means that kids can enjoy it without worrying that it’s a school night .

The evening started at 7.30pm and host for the night was Bruce McKenzie , a well known face in the town , and also a well known radio voice and writer for Local media . Bruce was very smartly dressed in his Kilt , which I think was a nice touch , especially to set the tone of the evening for many visitors who were really looking for that wee touch of Scotland ! The Tattoo Opened with Pipe music and Marching bands , but the Headliner for the show was The Imps Motorbike display team , Who Roared into the Street Arena in front of McClellans Castle in the heart of the town , The display was excellent with Explosions , fire Jumps , jumps over people , multiple people on one bike , pyramids of people on multiple bikes , it was excellent to see and the crowd loved it ! Pictures below

The Imps final stunt is their giant pyramid , and at the peak, Holding the flag was Local 11 year old Kirkcudbright primary School girl Gemma Caygill , Gemma a local farmers daughter , only had 2 and half hours to train and prepare , but the brave lassie did a fantastic job , pictured below

After The Imps , and while the safety fencing was being removed we had the chance to listen to Robyn Stapleton, the Winner of this years BBC RADIO YOUNG TRADITIONAL MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR award . Robyn had the voice of an angel and was a joy to listen to, it was lovely to see and hear her live for my  first ever time , pictured below

Once the arena was ready again , we had the joy of watching more Pipe bands , Sword Dancing , The Kirkcudbright Tug Of war team ( who catch out many visitors to the town) Traditional Scottish country dancing , to name just a few things , Pictured below

One of the main things about a Tattoo though is YOU , the audience , without having such a fantastic crowd to clap, cheer and join in the Tattoo would not be put on for us all to enjoy. So here are some photos of the Crowd , and some of the faces and folk who are involved with putting on this amazing 3 hour extravaganza !

 Towards the end of the evening we got to enjoy one of the many Traditional parts of the tattoo , The lone piper , who was stood up high in one of the castle windows , with everything else darkened with the lights being turned off , it is quite a site and something very special to see !

Then as the evening draws to a close , we were treated to the Massed pipe bands , A really amazing display of Pipe bands from right across the region , coming together to celebrate , and enjoy the Kirkcudbright tattoo , and after the Lord-Lieutenant for Dumfries and Galloway Region , gives the bands his permission for them to play out , they marched past and saluted him ! Followed by Flag bearers and dancers who had all taken part .  Pictured below

Then to round off the perfect night , it needs FIREWORKS , and boy o boy the Kirkcudbright team know how to do them right , what an amazing display , all of us at team DGWGO loved them ! pictured

So all in all a huge success , and an event that the whole region should be proud of ! Team DGWGO only have a couple of tips for you though , Do take a fold up chair with you , do wrap up warm as it gets cold at about 9.00pm , do make sure you have been to the loo before the show , but most of all if you have never been , do get yourself  there for next year ! Roll on Summer 2015 !

DGWGO would like to Thank Kirkcudbright Summer festivities for the very kind invitation to join  them at the Tattoo this year , and we would like to congratulate them on the successes of all their summer events !

All Photographs Copyright to R.B Photography , 

Article written by R.B