TICKET prices for the Military Tattoo are set to increase by 20 per cent over the next three years.
Bosses of the showcase event are planning to hike up the cost of tickets every year until 2011 to meet growing production costs and help pay for new grandstands.
The move means a mid-price £18 ticket for next year's performance will be just under
£22 by 2011.
The current ageing grandstands only have about five years of useful life left, and it is hoped new £16 million grandstands will be in place for the summer of 2011.
However, a funding package for the scheme has still to be finalised and council chiefs today unveiled plans to borrow £6m on behalf of the Tattoo to keep the project on track. The city council has already agreed to put £3m of its own money towards the scheme, while a further £7m will come from Tattoo revenues, corporate sponsorship and the Scottish Government.
Tattoo bosses today said the ticket price rise was necessary because of escalating costs, while council chiefs said the £6m loan was the best solution.
The city's festival and events champion, Steve Cardownie, said: "The Tattoo is an important national event and the hottest ticket in town in summer.
"This borrowing system is an ideal way to build up the funding package, and we'll continue to pull together the final £7m through private sponsorship and contributions from our partners."
The loan deal means the council would own part of the new stands until the Military Tattoo paid the cash back over the next 20 years.
Tattoo chief executive and producer, Major General Euan Loudon, said: "Our 2009 ticket price increase is in line with anticipated price rises in connection with mounting the annual production on the Castle Esplanade."
The £6m loan, which will be secured using the low-interest borrowing methods available to local authorities, is set to be approved by the full council meeting on Thursday.
