It feels like the dust's barely settled on the 2009 Festival, but the first tickets for next year are about to go on sale.  Seats for the 2010 Edinburgh Military Tattoo - the umatched soldierly spectacle which wows crowds of 8,500 nightly in front of Edinburgh Castle - will be released online from Tuesday 1 December.  And with demand sure to be strong in the Tattoo's diamond anniversary year, there's no time to waste securing your place.

Cast of the 2007 Tattoo at the Festivals Cavalcade

Choosing when to go

The Tattoo runs from Friday 6 August to Saturday 28 August, excluding Sundays.  Weekday performances are at 9pm; Saturday performances are at 7:30pm and 10:30pm.  For a full list of dates and times, see the Tattoo's own website.

There's one performance on weekdays and two performances on Saturdays.  The later Saturday show is followed by a fireworks display.  There's an extra £3 charge for the fireworks but it's well worth it

But remember the late Saturday performance doesn't finish until well after midnight - the fireworks aren't so good that they're worth a nightmare journey home

If you have limited mobility and need to be dropped off in a car, we're afraid you can't go on a Saturday - you'll have to choose a weekday.  Apart from the fireworks, all the performances are exactly the same

The Tattoo's just one of the Festivals which will be coming to Edinburgh in August 2010.  If you'd like to combine your Tattoo trip with a little extra culture, check out our guide to all Edinburgh's Festivals and then time your visit using our detailed Festival calendar

Picking your seat

When you book your Tattoo tickets, you'll be able to choose the area of the stands you want to sit in.  Wherever you choose, it isn't cheap - prices range from £16 to £50 a seat.  For a full seating chart, take a look on the Tattoo's own website.

Seats on the East side are a lot more expensive, and sell out much faster.  The view of the action is really no better, but you do get to see it all framed against the jaw-dropping backdrop of Edinburgh Castle.

On the North or South sides, you'll get a great view from anywhere in areas C, D or E.  Areas F and G are okay, but the really cheap seats in areas A and B are hemmed in by the East stand.  We think that's a false economy.

Pick the North side if you're desperate for a good view of the iconic lone piper, who closes the performance each night.  But don't worry about being exactly in the centre - the performers march up and down so everyone gets a good look.

If you want a specific seat (for example, if you suffer from vertigo and want a seat lower down in the stands), you can't book online.  You'll need to send in a postal application, or call the Tattoo box office once it opens on Wednesday 9 December.

How to book

The easiest way to book your seats is online, through the Tattoo website.  Don't hang about - the most desirable seats, especially those in the East stand for a Saturday, go extremely quickly.  Booking opens at 10am on Tuesday 1 December, and the website's likely to be very busy at first.  Last year it seemed to struggle under the load, but you could get on with a bit of persistence and once logged in it was fine.

If you need to discuss special seating requirements, or if you just prefer to deal with a real person, you'll have to wait a week until phone sales open.  They'll be answering 0131 225 1188 from 10am on Wednesday 9 December, but be warned that some dates and a lot of seating blocks are likely to have sold out by then.

Finally, if you like to mosey on down in person, the counter at 33-34 Market Street will be open from 10am to 4:30pm on weekdays only, starting on Wednesday 16 December.  Note that Market Street is behind Waverley Station, and confusingly, is nowhere near the Spirit of the Tattoo visitor centre near the Castle.

Whichever way you choose - good luck getting the tickets you're after, and we at FringeGuru hope you enjoy the show.  If you've found this page useful, you can get updates on all the Edinburgh Festival ticket launches by signing up to our unintrusive email service, Ticket Alert.