This summer, an international tattoo will be held at the Lier Sport Park, in the Lyra-Lierse football club stadium. The intention is to make it an annual tradition. Show bands and marching bands from Britain, the Netherlands and Denmark will be performing choreographed routines to well-known music. This year, the tattoo will take place on 3 July.
International Military Tattoo coming to Lier: ‘We want to make it an annual tradition’
Colin Clapson
Published:
‘It is a musical spectacle that will last 2.5 hours,’ says organiser Piet De Langhe. ‘Marching and show bands will perform for the public. Everyone is familiar with brass bands marching through the streets, but there are also groups that specialise in turning this into a show. They perform choreographed routines to well-known music.’
‘A dazzling spectacle’
Six groups will be performing in Lier. ‘It will be a dazzling spectacle from start to finish. The most famous tattoo parades are those in Edinburgh in Scotland and, in the past, in Breda in the Netherlands. That has now become Rotterdam. You could say it's the Champions League of tattoo parades. We're just behind them.’
Piet De Langhe has also been organising the tattoo in Bruges for 37 years now. It was time to move on to somewhere else.
The intention is for the tattoo in Lier to become an annual tradition, with the tattoo in Lier on the Friday and in Bruges on the Saturday.
From British soldiers to a band from Denmark
The programme is now finalised. British soldiers from Wales will be among the guests. ‘That always appeals to the imagination. When you see British military bands on television, you tend to watch a little longer.’
There will also be a band from Denmark. ‘It originated in a girls' orphanage. In the 1950s, they formed a band with the girls, with whistles and drums. It's a phenomenon that travels all over the world and they are coming to Belgium for the first time.’
Several top bands from the Netherlands are also on the bill.