World Class Event in Halifax……..

This summer, over 60,000 people from all over the globe got to salute the Canadian Navy at The Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo, one of the biggest celebrations in the country.
DSC_0303The show opened with an impressive reenactment of the 1940s hit Meet the Navy; choreographed by original Meet the Navy star, Blanche Lund. The 87-year-old, former WREN says it meant a great deal to be a part of the show, “I think once you put on that uniform, it never leaves you. You always feel like you’re a part of the Navy.”
           
After audience members got to meet the Navy, they also got to meet some of the best performers in the world as bands from Belgium, Germany, the U.S. and across Canada took the stage.
The show featured fearless gymnasts and acrobats from The Netherlands, France and Germany and drill teams from the United Kingdom and Germany.
DSC_0524Amidst the flurry of traditional dancing, modern jazz and salsa, audience members were able to reflect on historic and touching scenes about the fire onboard HMCS Kootenay and on Canadian Forces who have served and are serving our country.
All of the money made from the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo is kept and spent in province – adding to an already sizeable sum that tourists spend while visiting Nova Scotia for the Tattoo. Last year, approximately $52 Million was spent across the province, attributable to tourists who had visited the Tattoo.
With a cast and crew of 2,000 people crammed backstage at the Metro Centre, performers were all too happy to perform at various outdoor locations across the city during the week of the Tattoo, entertaining local business people and tourists during the lunchbreak. 
_MG_0272-EditAs the last few performing acts board their planes to return home, echoes of the fabulous music from the event come out as people whistle tunes that have been dug up from the far corners of memory – old wartime songs such as When the Lights Go On Again and Wish Me Luck performed by soloists Jason Davis, Brenna Conrad, Derrick Paul Miller and Liz Rigney.
Audience members held their breath as the Juliana Bicycle Team from the Netherlands stacked one on top the other and while German Grandpas soared through the air, with several near-collisions. 
As is tradition, the lone piper ended the 2010 show – piping the notes of The Long Sail Home; leaving audience members with an open invitation to come back to experience one of the world’s greatest shows and the largest annual indoor show held in the traditional gateway of our country, Nova Scotia.