Fifty plus one Tattoo 1967 reunion was held on August 14, 2018 at the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 292, 411 Gorge Rd E, Victoria, BC. The reunion was attended by many who hadn't seen each other for many years. Members spouses also attended.

Brief Tattoo 1967 History

Tattoo 1967, the Canadian Military contribution to Canada's 100 birthday in 1967 toured the country from coast to coast. The tour was made up of three parts, the first part of the tour comprised two identical shows, a blue train and a red train each with about 450 men. These two shows toured across Canada by rail and performed in arenas. The show rehearsals took place in Picton, Ontario commencing in late February. The train shows started on March 31, 1967 in Peterborough, Ontario and competed that portion of the Tattoo in May before both trains united in Victoria, BC then being augmented by more military personnel to form a show of 1700 men and woman which became the second part of the tour. This second phase of Tattoo '67 became the "stadium" shows, first playing at an expanded Centennial Stadium in Victoria on May 25, 1967 for three shows, then Empire Stadium in Vancouver, followed by the Autostad at Expo 67 in Montreal and the CNE Stadium in Toronto. Ottawa and Hamilton also witnessed the show at their stadiums. Unlike the arena shows which could occur any time of the day (matinees or evenings), the stadium shows were only performed in the evening. The third and last part was a smaller contingent similar in size to the train shows that toured the Maritimes in the late summer and fall of 1967. The last performance of Tattoo 1967 was on October 11, 1967 at Chicoutimi, Quebec after over 150 shows in 42 cities across Canada. A record that has never been be broken let alone equaled. Although there were calls to preserve the Tattoo and tour to other countries as a symbol of Canadian culture, the show was relegated to Canadian history never to be seen again. All that remains now are the memories of a wonderful event.

My Tattoo 1967 Book

My Tattoo 1967 book was published October 2017 and is available online or can be ordered at the counter at book stores in Canada (Indigo and Coles), United States (Barns & Noble) and the United Kingdom (Waterstones). The book tells the story of how Tattoo 1967 was developed and performed across Canada. The foreword for my book was written by Ian Fraser, the producer/director of Tattoo 1967 who also produced the 1962 Seattle World's Fair Canadian Tattoo and went on to produce the now world famous Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo in Halifax, NS. Colonel Fraser also produced the Royal Canadian Navy's 75th Anniversary Tattoo on its eleven city tour across Canada in 1985 and has been a tattoo consultant in Australia and the United States.