City of Culture celebrations get underway

The creative director of Hull's inaugural City of Culture event has said the city will finally share its secrets with the world as thousands of people flocked to watch the spectacular opening installation.

Sean McAllister, a documentary filmmaker from Hull, said the Made In Hull event - a city-wide artistic installation around major landmarks - would show people that the city had hidden culture.

A huge audience packed in to Queen Victoria Square to watch as stories of the city and its people over the last 70 years were projected on to nearby buildings.

The crowd in the city centre square - where one of eight art installations will be located for the next week - chanted a countdown before a projection of a propeller was beamed on to the Ferens Art Gallery building to begin the event and a film of Hull's history.

The crowd then fell silent as they watched Hull's history - from pilot Amy Johnson's solo flight to Australia in 1930 to the present day - projected around the square.

The film, by Zsolt Balogh and titled We Are Hull, also incorporated the Second World War, the city's footballing history, its maritime heritage and the future Siemens offshore wind manufacturing plant.

The audience cheered as the phrase "We Are Hull" scrolled repeatedly across the surrounding buildings at the film's finale.

Mr McAllister said he had worked on a concept that he hoped would be "arresting, interesting and engaging for normal people".

Other installations making up the Made In Hull event include Hullywood Icons, featuring local people recreating images from classic films, and a multi-screen and sound installation recreating the club scene in 90s Yorkshire. The free event will run for a week