After all the bands had had an opportunity to go through their routines in the front arena during the day, it was time for all the different acts to be assembled together into a well-structured programme, with one act flowing nicely into the next. Captain John Manning, the much-loved voice behind the Tattoo, was up in his announcer’s box on the balcony overlooking the arena, and going through his introductions and commentaries on each of the acts. The members of the executive committee that is responsible for organising the event had taken their places on the seating stands, eager to see the first full run-through.
At the start of every Tattoo, the huge gates to the Castle are ceremonially shut and locked. This ritual involves the Castle Guard – represented by soldiers from the Cape Town Highlanders – carrying traditional halberds, delivering the keys to the Castle to the commander, in this case, Captain Francois Morkel, wearing his ceremonial sword.
Closing the Gate
The fanfare went off well, with all the ‘fanfarists’ taking their places on the Kat balcony.
Fanfare on the Kat balcony
The massed bands marched onto the arena.
Then each of the bands took their turn in the performance area. First up, the SA Army Band Cape Town:
The SA Air Force Band:
The SA Navy Band:
The SAMHS Band:
Tomorrow (Tuesday) night – another run-through, and then it is the Dress Rehearsal on Wednesday night. The levels of excitement and anticipation are definitely increasing in the run-up to the official performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
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Grains of Sand 
You have told a story in pictures about the rehearsal of the military tattoo very poignantly in this photo essay. Very nice pictures.
Thank you very much, Munchow. I am finding it hugely challenging to get crisp photographs of the evening rehearsals and shows. I need to use a fast enough shutter speed to ‘freeze’ the movements as much as possible (between 1/50 to 1/100 works sometimes, though ideally it should be faster), but my aperture cannot go lower than f/4, so it means that my ISO has to be ramped up… which leads to graininess in the photos! It’s been quite frustrating.
Sometimes you just have to accept the graininess and noise that comes with ramping up the ISO. Still it’s better than not getting the pictures…