It’s no secret this city is crazy about tattoos, but not just the art you can get inked onto your body.
Victoria is also big on the Pacific Tattoo, the military spectacle featuring massed pipes and drums, choirs, marching, dancing, athletic demonstrations and theatrical pageantry.
The tattoo will return to Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, where it was held last July, for the next three years, Victoria Military Music Festival organizers have announced
Tickets are on sale for the 2014 shows on July 12 and 13. The tattoo is also booked for July 11 and 12, 2015; and July 9 and 10, 2016.
The Pacific Tattoo doubled in size this year when it moved to the Memorial Centre from Bear Mountain Arena in Colwood. About 6,500 people attended the two-day event.
Charles (Chic) Goodman, who joined the Signal Corps in Saint John, N.B., at age 15, landed in Normandy on D-Day and was injured in the Netherlands, bought the first ticket Monday for the 2014 show.
Last summer’s showcase of pageantry, music and dance featured bands from Australia and the Netherlands, the Royal Canadian Navy’s Naden Band, Greater Victoria Police Pipe Band, Greater Victoria Fire Services Colour Guard, Tenors member Ken Lavigne, Stages Dance Company and many more.
It’s a giant step forward to ensure the continuing growth and multi-year planning for the Pacific Tattoo, said chairman Peter Baillie.
“This show brings many visitors to Victoria and means significant economic spinoffs for everything from hotel rooms to arena spot lights and rental buses to move performers around the city to and from rehearsals and performances,” Baillie said.
To recognize the mobilization of soldiers in Victoria for the Canadian Expeditionary Force starting in mid-1914, the July show will be built around the theme of the Canadian Army as a key factor in defining Canada’s identity as a young nation, Baillie said.
For tickets and information, go to pacifictattoo.ca.
