Hull Awakening arts festival draws 100k visitors, organisers say

Giant puppets - titled Totems by French arts company Compagnie des Quidams - paraded around Hull's city centre

A festival marking the start of spring drew more than 100,000 people into the centre of Hull at the weekend, organisers have said.

The Awakening created crowds across city centre and Old Town locations over two nights with a series of installations and displays.

These included a recreation of the Northern Lights, giant puppets, light shows and a trail of fire.

It was organised by the people behind the city's annual Freedom Festival.

The Northern Lights were recreated with lasers and smoke by artist Dan Acher, alongside a backdrop of ambient music composed by Guillaume Desbois

Crowds were able to take in a variety of displays and events

Mikey Martins, artistic director and CEO of Freedom Festival Arts Trust, said they hoped it could become an annual event.

He added: "We were thrilled to see thousands of people and particularly so many families back on the streets of Hull enjoying The Awakening this weekend.

"The feedback from the audience has been truly fantastic and personally just seeing the joy on the faces of people of all ages as they interacted with all the incredible program across the city centre and into the Old Town."

He thanked spectators for attending the "first large scale event [in] two years and bringing the city back to life".

The Awakening was organised by the team behind Hull's annual Freedom Festival

Queens Gardens played host to a fire trail during the weekend event

Artist Katayoun Dowlatshahi's images of a sailing ship at sea were projected on to Hull City Hall