The Bermuda Regiment celebrates its 40th birthday next year and could take its celebration down under ? to Australia.

Reformed out of the Bermuda Rifles and the Bermuda Militia and Artillery in 1965, the Regiment will be holding its own tattoo on the Island , but may also rejoin the pomp and pageantry of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo when it takes its show on the road in Australia, in February of 2005.

Yesterday, Lt. Col. Eddie Lamb said he was unaware that the Scottish celebration was scheduled to be performed outside of Edinburgh, where it has been performed since 1950. The only time it has been held elsewhere was in 2000, when it was staged in Wellington, New Zealand.

The Regiment, along with the Bermuda Gombeys, performed last year at Edinburgh Castle in an event that drew thousands of spectators and was broadcast on the giant American television network, ABC. An informal invitation had been extended to return again, Lt. Col. Lamb said.

"We haven't received any formal invitation," he said. "We do have our own celebrations in 2005, which include our own tattoo."

If extended a formal invite, Lt. Col. Lamb said: "We would definitely pursue it but it would depend on the funding and if our band members would be able to get out of work."

Along with the Regiment's own tattoo, currently set for November 2005, the band will also be travelling to Germany to participate in the 40th 'Musikschau der Nationen' (International Music Show of the Nations) next January.

The Regiment is also hoping to send the band to Kingston, Ontario next year. That trip will also depend on funding and the band members' availability.