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Canadian Armed Forces Tattoo 1967

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Canadian Forces Tattoo 1967
Fort ready for the show
DateMarch–October 1967
Location Canada
Organised byCanadian Forces
Filmed byCanadian Broadcasting Corporation
ParticipantsCanadian military bands

The Canadian Forces Tattoo 1967 was a series of military tattoos or displays performed by members of the Canadian military portraying more than three hundred years of Canada's military history.[1] The Tattoo, which was the Canadian military's contribution to Canada's centennial year celebrations in 1967, toured the country from coast to coast. This was the largest such event in the history of the Canadian military.[2]

The Tattoo shows started in late March 1967 and ended in October after approximately 150 performances in over 40 cities across Canada. The Tattoo performed in every province in Canada.[3] After several years of planning, rehearsals for the show commenced in late February 1967 at Camp Picton (later CFB Picton) in Ontario.[4] All branches of the military - the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force - participated.

There were three parts to the Tattoo:

  • Between March and May two identical shows, one travelling in a blue train and the other in a red train, each with about 450 men, toured across Canada and performed in arenas.[5]
  • The two trains united in Victoria, BC, and were augmented by more military personnel to form a show of 1700 men and women. This second part of the tour played in larger stadiums, for example, Empire Stadium in Vancouver, Autostade at Expo 67 in Montreal and the CNE Stadium in Toronto, then Ottawa and finally in Hamilton, Ontario. Hamilton was the last stadium show.
  • Following the Hamilton stadium show, a troupe similar in size to the train shows toured the Maritimes in the late summer and early fall of 1967. The tattoo has never been repeated.

Upon the completion of the last show on October 11, 1967, all the hundreds of uniforms, costumes, muskets, swords, etc. were put into storage and over the years have been sold off to museums and private collectors.

Front Cover

A history of Tattoo 1967 has been published at the end of October 2017 by FriesenPress called the Making of a Tattoo. The book follows the development of the Tattoo from the earliest stages in 1963 to the end when the Tattoo played its last performance in October, 1967. The Tattoo was a major theatrical production that was seen by millions of Canadians and was televised on two occasions by the Canadian Broadcasting Company. The tattoo has today become a once-in-a-lifetime event that was never conceived after its ending.[6]

Notable participants

790 musicians from the following 17 army, navy, and air force bands took part in the tattoo:[7][8]

References

  1. ^ Wilson, Keith Allan. The Making of a Tattoo FriesenPress, 30 October 2017.
  2. ^ *"Canadian Armed Forces Tattoo" Montreal Gazette, 20 June 1967
  3. ^ Aykroyd, Peter H. The Anniversary Compulsion: Canada's Centennial Celebrations, A Model Mega-Anniversary Dundurn Press, 1 January 1992.
  4. ^ Courneya-Fralick, Joanne. Camp Picton: A Storied 70 Years in a Canadian Military Training Camp FriesenPress, 12 September 2013.
  5. ^ Centennial News: Manitoba Pageant, Spring 1966, Volume 11, Number 3.
  6. ^ The Canadian Armed Forces 1967 Centennial Tattoo.
  7. ^ Wilson, Keith Allan (23 October 2017). The Making of a Tattoo: Canadian Armed Forces Tattoo 1967. ISBN 9781525514043.
  8. ^ "The Minute Book".
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