Help us blow out our candles

I remember Boris Becker winning the Wimbledon men's final, and sulking about not being allowed to stay up past my bedtime to watch Wham perform at Live Aid. My summer that year mainly consisted of roller skates, swingball, and syrupy sweet Soda Stream cola. 

I had no conception at all of how three history teachers in Edinburgh were spending their summer holiday that year.

For this month marks the thirtieth anniversary of the very beginning of Mercat Tours, and little did we realise then what this humble start would grow into, some three decades later. Those three men were on a mission to prove that history was far from dry or boring. All it needed was a damn good telling, an ethos we still stand by to this day.

From a handful of tours at the company's inception, we now have a dozen in four different languages, as well as regular trips to the battlefields of Europe with Mercat Tours International.

Since our foundation we've seen the fall of Communism and the reshaping of Europe, and Scotland regaining its parliament after a 300 year absence. Births, deaths, changes, economic ups and downs, all have continued around us, as we continue on through the streets of Edinburgh, on our quest to engage, enthrall and entertain.

But what next? 

Well, this month, watch this space. No one moves forward by standing still, and given that it's our birthday, prepare for some pretty celebratory moving and shaking. We'll tell you more as our birthday draws closer, but rest assured we want you to celebrate with us. 

There is no Mercat Tours without you, so expect a few treats in store... after all, it's not every day you turn 30. 

Come along on a tour, and help us blow out our candles.