U.S. Army to Perform at Twilight Tattoo Ceremony

Date: July 10, 2009

Come to Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine on August 1 at 6:00 p.m. for the most musical and colorful twilight tattoo ceremony of the summer season! The program features patriotic music, military pageantry and living history! The program begins with a concert by the U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, Continental Color Guard, U.S. Army Drill Team, Baltimore Brass and Fort McHenry Guard. Dressed in the uniforms of Washington’s Continental Army, the U.S Army old Guard Fife and Drum Corps plays stirring fife and drum music to audiences worldwide. Joining the Old Guard is the Fort McHenry Guard Fife and Drum Corps. The Fifes and Drums of the Fort McHenry Guard have played for the Governor of Maryland, Michael Phelps and dignitaries throughout the state.

Be part of one of the oldest ceremonies in Baltimore City! Over 100 years ago, Baltimore residents spent Saturday evenings watching the military review of soldiers at Fort McHenry. That tradition lives on through a concert by the Baltimore Brass who will play noted selections by John Philip Sousa, and other composers to begin the twilight tattoo.

Every ceremony ends with the folding of the great 30 x 42-foot Star-Spangled Banner flag and the firing of the fort’s large evening gun.

The Fort McHenry Guard offers a unique historical experience at every performance. Dressed in the uniform of the 1814 defenders of Baltimore, the Guard will be doing a cannon drill, musket exercise and a bayonet demonstration. The evening program concludes with the audience folding the large 30 x 42-foot Star-Spangled Banner Flag. The evening ceremony is free, and parking is provided on-site.