Adelaide hosts international police tattoo

South Australia is set to dazzle the world with the launch of the second Sensational Adelaide International Police Tattoo in September.

The tattoo will showcase top-class police and military bands from Australia and around the world for six thrilling performances at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre from September 17 to 20.

Prominent among the 600 performers will be the internationally-acclaimed Band of the South Australia Police and the Adelaide University Pipes and Drums, both of which have played at Edinburgh Military Tattoos.

The much-loved police greys of the SAPOL Mounted Operations Unit are presently undergoing training to put on a show-stopping spectacle. Tattoo organizer Senior Sergeant Bob Fisher is tight-lipped about the details, but says it is bound to be “the crowd-pleaser of the whole event”.

“It is spectacular,” he says, “and it surprised me actually what they came up with. You’ll see the Mounted Operations Unit in a light which you’ve never seen before.”

This year’s tattoo is a follow-up to the highly successful one held two years ago to celebrate the centenary of Federation.

Despite the turmoil of September 11 and the collapse of Ansett (the tattoo’s then national sponsor and major carrier), the 2001 inaugural International Police Tattoo’s five performances attracted enormous support.

Channel 7’s television coverage of the event proved so popular that it was telecast twice more in Australia during the following months.

So impressive was the tattoo that a number of overseas bands actually approached the SA Police to ask if they could take part in the forthcoming one.

With top international acts to delight all ages and tastes, audiences can look forward to an event which promises to surpass even the high standards set by the 2001 tattoo.

Coming all the way from Britain is the Band of the Irish Guards whose most regular duty is to play – in turn with other foot guard bands – for the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. It also performs at all British ceremonial state occasions including the Queen’s Birthday trooping of the colour, royal weddings and state visits.

According to Warrant Officer Stuart Forgie, the band was “delighted to accept the invitation” to come to Adelaide.

He says: “The band was last in Adelaide during 1957. I’ve just found an old photograph of the band playing at the war memorial and it’s about time we made a return visit.”

From Italy come the colourful and enchanting Flag-Wavers of Umbria. Originating from Gubbio, a city 190kms north of Rome, the flag-wavers perform the traditional art of signalling with banners which dates back to the Middle Ages, when it was practised by the standard-bearers of the merchant and craftsmen’s guilds.

Their flags are generally hand-painted and each design has a special significance to the guilds, associations and families they represent. To the beat of drums, the Flag-Wavers of Umbria mesmerize audiences with a remarkable display of waving and throwing the colours of each rival family.

The Itchy Feet Pep Band.

The flag-wavers dress appropriately in colourful medieval costumes. For years they have entertained audiences throughout Europe and America and have made return visits to the Edinburgh Tattoo.

Other attractions include:

• The All-Australian Massed Police Pipes and Drums – representing police from all states.
• The Royal Brunei Police Force Band, which last performed in Australia in 1970.
• The Fiji Police Force Band, bringing music and colour from the 133 beautiful islands of the Fijian archipelago.
• Northern Territory Aboriginal community constables who will share some of the cultural heritage unique to their tribal homelands.
• The SA Callisthenics Association.
• The Itchy Feet Pep Band – a colourful, comical and bizarre ensemble of Victorian schoolteachers – who delighted audiences at the 2001 tattoo and are back this year by popular demand.

The success of the tattoo is no accident, but is the result of hard work and meticulous preparation.

Tattoo organizer Senior Sergeant Bob Fisher says: “One of the things we pride ourselves on is that, because we’re police officers, we tend to plan to the ‘enth’ degree, and we do that very well.”

The police also use a network of almost 80 volunteers who give up their time freely to ensure the event is a success. They assist with office duties, welcome patrons to the venue, and help in the arena itself.

Each band or group which comes to Adelaide will be met by a volunteer who will not only be its main contact during its stay, but will live and eat with the performers, giving them all the information they need and taking them on tours.

“That is not done anywhere in the world,” says Fisher. “The volunteers are unique.”

Fisher says that his office has been “just swamped by the amount of volunteers wanting to be involved”.

“Unfortunately,” he adds, “we just haven’t got enough positions.

“In 2001, we had an old chap. I think he was nearly 90. He volunteered and he absolutely had a ball helping. And the youngest we had was a 13-year-old kid.

“So it goes right across the board, the spectrum. And these people really love working with the police, they believe in the police, and they want to give something back.”

The tattoo, then, not only provides enjoyment for families, but taps into an enormous fund of public goodwill.

According to Bob Fisher, it plays a vital role in uniting the South Australian community and provides a ready means by which volunteer projects within the police can be developed.

“More than that,” says Fisher, “it presents police as part of, and in touch with, their community.

“The sheer professionalism of this sort of spectacle gives the public a justifiable pride in their police service and a high level of trust in its proficiency.

“This does a lot to build a sense of partnership between the community and the police. And this pays off well down the track.”