Rising costs bring end to Royal Burgh of Dumfries Tattoo

The event was last held on the Crichton Estate in Dumfries last year

The charity behind the Royal Burgh of Dumfries Tattoo is to be wound up due to rising costs and a lack of volunteers to help stage the event.

Trustees said the move came after "renewed efforts" to attract new supporters for the event had failed.

They also blamed inflation-driven cost increases and funding bodies "tightening their purse strings".

The tattoo - which was founded in 2012 - has grown significantly in scale from its first small community event.

The tattoo has grown in size from a small community event to one which attracted large crowds

Chairman of the board of trustees, Stuart Robb, said: "The tattoo has been a hit with the community for many years, and we are incredibly proud of everything that has been achieved."

Performance Director, Gavin Gillon-Maxwell, who was part of the original team who set the event up in 2012, said it had seen "many acclaimed professional performers grace the streets of Dumfries".

"Seldom is such a display of military massed pipes and drums seen outside the Edinburgh Tattoo," he added.

"My thanks go to all the performers who have worked with us over the years to build the spectacle of the tattoo to the event that it is known, and loved for, today."

Organisers said rising costs and a lack of new supporters had led to their decision to wind up the charity

The last Dumfries Tattoo, in 2022, saw it move from Dumfries town centre to the backdrop of the Crichton Memorial Church.

It included a ceilidh following the tattoo for the first time.

Confirming the decision to wind up the charity, the trustees paid tribute on social media to everyone who had supported their cause and helped it to be the spectacle it had become.