Puppets to parade on the streets

A HUGE parade of life-sized puppet animals will be making its way through Rochdale this summer as part of a whopping 20,000km journey across the world.

- BY ADAM MAIDMENT

The migration of animals, which will feature giraffes, elephants, zebras, gazelles and chimps, are making their way from the Congo Basin to the Arctic Circle, with stops along the way as part of a tour of public artwork.

The Herds will head to the city region between July 3 and 5, visiting Heywood and Pennington Flash in Wigan as well as Manchester city centre.

The tour aims to highlight the scale of climate change and what is needed to fight it.

It will be unveiled as part of the opening event of Manchester International Festival on July 3, which will see herds of animals scattering through the city centre, interrupting orchestral performances by the Manchester Camerata and taking up residency between Cathedral Gardens and Market Street.

Following their city centre expedition, the life size puppets will then head to the residential streets of Heywood and take up residency in the likes of Mutual Mills and Queen’s Park.