Giant puppets 'no one's ever seen before' paraded through Tunbridge Wells

Watch: The parade promised something most people would never have seen before


Dozens of puppets have been paraded through the streets of a Kent town marking the end of more than a week of festivities.

The mesmerising display of world-class creative creations attracted hundreds of people to the centre of Tunbridge Wells on Sunday morning.

Behind each of the puppets were local community groups and school children, with some of them taking months to skilfully put together.

It's the sixth time the Tunbridge Wells Puppetry Festival has taken place since the first event back in 2015.

Watch: people involved with the mesmerising parade explain what it means to take part

Co-director Alison Bundy praised the mix of colourful and diverse artwork on show,

"Everyone wants to be involved. Everybody wants to bring puppets they've made throughout the year. So it's lovely.

"There'll be so much that no one's ever seen before. Who's seen a mobility scooter dressed up as a flamingo?

"We've got Judith Hope with some huge walkabout puppets, people on clouds and big ships with birds. It's just something things that people wouldn't necessarily see."

Flamingo puppets were paraded on mobility scooters Credit: ITV News

Leading the parade was the Bhangra Bobby, created by Cohesion Plus, a community organisation in Kent which aims to bring people together.

Artistic director Gurvinder Sandher said, "We're so pleased to be here at the Tunbridge Wells Puppetry Festival.

"It's a fantastic little puppet, and it took us about three months to make from conception to the final bit.

"It's quite tricky getting the costume design right, but we so pleased that we've got it because for us, diversity in the arts is so important, and it's really great that we've got the diverse representation in the festival."

Schoolchildren helped make this crocodile based on one from Peter Pan Credit: ITV News

Pupils at Langton Green primary school children made a crocodile puppet based on the one in Peter Pan, as part of their final Year 6 project.

They worked alongside professional puppeteer Russell Dean.

Deputy headteacher Tom Maynard said, "It's about kind of bringing something to life. The production for Year 6 is always a big affair.

"We were thinking about how do you bring a crocodile to life in your school hall? So we thought about lots of different options and so he set to work on this, and it was better than we ever imagined, actually."

Tunbridge Wells Puppetry Festival is supported financially by the Arts council and also relies on help from public donations.


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