Pictures: Giant WW1 puppet procession in Liverpool
- Published
Thousands of people have lined the streets of Liverpool to welcome three giant marionette puppets. The puppets will tell the story of Liverpool's role during World War One.
A spokesman for the display said the puppets would tell the story of "happy people who went away in 1914 with the King's Regiment" to fight for their country.
Those "happy people" were the Liverpool Pals - groups of local men joined the army and served together in World War One. Some of their stories will be told in the show.
During the war 5,000 men joined the Pals. More than half of them died. On Wednesday and Thursday about 30,000 people visited the start of the display - a grandmother lying asleep in St George's Hall.
On Friday the grandmother started her journey across Liverpool, visiting some of the city's famous landmarks. Joining her on the journey is a giant girl and a dog called Xolo.
The show's director Jean-Luc Courcoult said he chose to tell the story in Liverpool because there people there "like to talk about the past, tell family stories and keep them alive". Some of the giant puppets have visited Liverpool before. In 2012 a giant procession reflected on the sinking of the Titanic ship.
Royal de Luxe, the French street theatre company behind the spectacle, said the figures would cover 30 miles in total over the weekend. Jean-Luc said he hoped retelling the stories of World War One would "reassure us and maybe give us a message of hope".