GEAR up for the stirring sounds of mass pipes and drum corps at this year’s KZN Military Tattoo. Expect some phenomenal patriotic military re-enactments from the South African National Defence Force interlaced with the performances by various military bands, including the recent award winning KZN Pipes and Drums.

This year the celebration will take place from 9 to 11 July at the Natal Mounted Rifles headquarters, situated on the corner of Masabalala Yengwa Avenue (formerly NMR Avenue) and Isaiah Ntshangase Road (formerly Walter Gilbert Avenue), Durban.

The Tattoo will be peppered with highlights such as the Lone Piper piping under the spotlight from an Eyrie and the moving rendition of the 1812 Overture by the Massed Bands, with the G1 Guns accentuating the beats in the music, as well as the colourful performances by the drum majorettes.

uMhlanga resident, Gordon Capper (80), will be one of many proud bagpipe performers at this year’s event. The retired resident said he started playing the bagpipes when he was 16 years old. As a young man he played the pipes in the Transvaal Scottish regiment. Many years later, in 2006, he joined the Natal Mounted Rifles – the oldest regiment in the country. Last year they celebrated their 160th anniversary.

“My family has a Scottish background, and in an attempt to maintain their traditions I began playing the bagpipes. It is great honour to be performing in the Military Tattoo. It is always an opportunity to showcase the bagpipes and to entertain the Durban public,” he said.

The KZN Military Tattoo is based on the models of other famous Military Tattoos across the world, not forgetting the Durban Tattoo, which was originally hosted in Durban between 1979 to 1994.