From fertile ideas shared at the public consultation in February grew the theme of........

530 people, aged from 1 month to 95 years of age, paraded through the streets of Hebden pushing, carrying and wearing fantastic parade art which they had made with the help of the parade artists.

‘What a fantastic event-missed it last year and had no idea how creative it was!’  Alice

Musical gnomes,

a giant sun with solar attendants,

lawn ladies and the mayor and deputy mayor of Hebden Royd as lawn gents,

punk slugs,

a giant snail and baby snails,

a giant smoke-breathing spider,

ladybirds, spiders, a lone woodlouse,

an ant army, dance pollinators

butterflies of large and small varieties,

a pair of nesting twites and seed-head carriers,

a beatific queen bee, beekeepers and a swarm of scooter powered bees,

flower maidens, a giant dragonfly,

inflatable flowers and ladybirds,

a giant tortoise, flowery parasol bearers,

a variety of vegetables chased by rabbits,

stilting plants, ‘Veronica’, a bluetit and a giant tree all danced to music and beats provided by the parade’s own
Handmade Samba Brigade,

Slick Stick Sambastic from Huddersfield,

Beatlife from Liverpool,

The Peace Artistes from West Yorkshire

and Carnival Crew Tees Valley

with dancers, from Stockton on Tees.

Artists and Volunteers
Last year’s highly skilled team of local parade artists was reunited, (Andrew Kim and Kathy Bradley of Thingumajig Theatre, Alison Duddle of Horse and Bamboo)  and Kerith Ogden  with the addition of Huddersfield artist Dave Young . The artists designed the different parade sections, ran the public workshops and supported the off-site artists and volunteers, providing new skills and valuable mentoring.  Artists also worked non-stop to create their own magnificent giant puppets.

As usual, the event could not have taken place without the help of our 15 fabulous and talented volunteers.

Public Workshops

Setbray Properties once again gave us a free workshop space, and in the 3 weeks preceding the parade, 327 children and adults came to public workshops to make costumes, masks and props with the lead artists and some made wonderful creations of their own. A nominal fee was charged per person.

Parade Art Classes

2009 saw the introduction of parade art classes - master classes for teenagers and adults, delivered by the lead artists in withy, papier mache and kinetic sculpture and stilting. Participants then animated what they had made and learnt, in the parade.

‘I learnt to weld and work with withy sculpture, Thank you so much for this fantastic opportunity.’ Tom

Community Workshops

In addition to public workshops in the workshop space, Fran Sierrevogel, Catherine Sweeney and Sue Walpole went out into the community to create parade art with 253 participants, aged from 0-96, from Central Street Nursery and Infants School, Dodnaze Community Centre, Hebden Vale Daycentre, Mytholm Meadows Sheltered Housing and Old Town Brownies.

We also worked in partnership with the Heritage Lottery funded ‘Watershed Landscape’ project run by Pennine Prospects (web link pennineprospects.co.uk). Children from Burnley Road and Scout Road Primary Schools learned about habitat conservation of the Twite (Pennine Finch) and made a pair of nesting twites for the parade.

‘It’s great to have been part of such a creative and inclusive project. I’ve learned lots of useful skills from the most friendly and helpful people you are likely to come across.’ Kate

Supported by

Arts Council England, Yorkshire
Calderdale Council
Community Foundation for Calderdale
Hebden Royd Town Council
Hebden Bridge Round Table
Hebden Bridge and District Rotary Club
Heritage Lottery Fund
Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales
South Pennines LEADER Programme
Setbray Properties