THE Edinburgh Military Tattoo is set for its fastest ever sellout, with the last tickets expected to be snapped up just after New Year.
Bosses for the event said they had been swamped by demand for tickets since they went on sale at the start of December, with hundreds of thousands of people booking through the website or phone lines in the past few weeks.
More than 8000 people si
gned on to the Tattoo's official website when tickets went on sale at 10am on December 3, causing it to crash. Since then, some performances have sold out and others with only restricted view seats remain.
Box office staff said sales are "way up" on last year, with millions of pounds generated, and that the showpiece event could be set to sell out early in the new year.
Tattoo marketing manager Alan Smith said: "If it carries on like this, we could be looking at a record year for sales. We're in a fabulous position at the moment and we are working hard to ensure the success continues. Last year, we had to put out the 'sold out' signs on January 12, but it could well be even sooner this year."
The Tattoo has been a sell-out for the past nine years. Tickets for the 2006 event did not run out until February. In the two previous years, the "full house" signs did not go up until April and June respectively.
A fresh wave of interest in the event is expected after a repeat screening of the Tattoo on BBC2 on January 2, the day before the box office reopens after the festive break. Further interest has been triggered by the release of a DVD of highlights from the summer spectacle.
Mr Smith added: "We think the TV repeat will have even more people clamouring for tickets when the box office reopens. Although there are still plenty of excellent seats available, they will go very quickly."
The 2008 event will feature a performance from the 150-piece Golden Eagles university marching band from Missouri.
A detachment of Gurkha pipes and drums, a police military band, an all-woman police pipe band and an act from Singapore will also perform at the event, with displays reflecting the Far East country's cultural roots.
Tattoo producer, Major General Euan Loudon, said: "This heartening start to our sales cycle is the perfect launch pad for the 2008 event."
VisitScotland's area director for Edinburgh, Ben Carter, said: "The Tattoo is one of the city's landmark events attracting visitors from across the world, so it is little surprise that the 2008 event is expected to sell out quicker than ever before."
The full article contains 451 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
