600 performers for Tattoo

Photo: Darren Handschuh

The Okanagan Military Tattoo takes place in Vernon this weekend.

Over 600 musicians, dancers and other performers will descend on Kal Tire Place in Vernon this coming weekend for the fourth annual Okanagan Military Tattoo.
This year, the Tattoo will celebrate Canada's 150th birthday, Vernon's 125th birthday and commemorate the 100th anniversary of the battle for Vimy Ridge.
This coming Wednesday, the set-up crew will transform Kal Tire Place from a hockey arena into a magical performance area complete with a mock castle.  Rehearsals will begin later that day and will run right up to show time.

Featured performers include the Naden Band of the Royal Canadian Navy, the RCMP 'E' Division Pipe Band, the 160 member Calgary Round-Up Band, pipe bands from Kelowna, Salmon Arm, Kamloops and Vernon along with Highland, Irish, Bhangra, Ukrainian and Polynesian dancers.
The 30-member Vernon Community Band will play a selection of wartime tunes and ditties  prior to the show.
Cadets from the Vernon Cadet Camp and veterans will participate in the solemn annual 'Tribute to the Veterans'.
Attending the Okanagan Military Tattoo this year are a group of alumni and their families from the 1967 military Tattoo that criss-crossed Canada during the nation's centenary celebrations as well as RCMP Assistant Commissioner Brenda Butterworth-Carr.

The Okanagan Military Tattoo is one of only two annual military tattoos in Canada, the other being the Royal Nova Scotia Tattoo in Halifax.

The two-hour performances take place on Saturday, July 29 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, July 30 at 2 p.m.

More information can be found online. For tickets call TicketSeller in Vernon at 250-549-7469.