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Chester The Giant City

30 Giants converge on Chester for international parade

30 giants arrived from all over Cheshire and the UK to tower over thousands of spectators from around the country.

They process through Chester during The Midsummer Watch Parade celebrations. The event takes place every year in the historic Roman city to mark the summer solstice. This year’s is the biggest yet with an extended family of more than 30 giants, and giant operators flying in from Europe. The BiG Giant Parade, joining the traditional Midsummer Watch Parade festivities is led by the Lord Mayor of Chester, Councillor John Ebo with tourists from all over the world watching.

Giant making was first recorded in Chester in the 10th Century. The tradition was reborn in 1989 with a modern family of giants to continue the lineage into the present. 2009 will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Chester’s modern Family of Giants but also the beginning of ChestertheGiantCity, the organisation that celebrates everything ‘giant’ within the walled city, thus creating a link between Chester’s past, present and future.

A host of events are taking place throughout the year to celebrate ChestertheGiantCity, leading up to and beyond the Midsummer Watch Parade. Giant making sessions have proved extremely popular with the public and record numbers are expected to attend this year’s parade.

The giant family has found a permanent home with partners BiG Storage at Printworks, Sealand Road, Chester. The company provides self storage, business units and domestic storage space for rent in Chester and in several other locations across the North West. BiG Storage is working on a number of projects with ChestertheGiantCity, including the creation of a community museum. A recently held competition for local school children saw the creation of a ‘Terabyte’ giant, combining the theme of giants with the gigantic storage capabilities of modern technology.

Action for Children is the named Charity of the Year for the ChestertheGiantCity celebrations.

Kristine Szulik from ChestertheGiantCity said;
“This year’s Midsummer Watch celebrations are more spectacular than ever with the newly formed BiG Giant Parade. There’s excitement from all our giant makers, both the seasoned veterans and the host of newcomers. Anyone is welcome to join in or come and watch. We expect visitors to travel from around the country to witness one of the most significant festivals in the ancient calendar.”

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Giant Parade participants:

6 National Giants
4 Chester’s Family of Giants
3 Queens Park High School
2 Lache (Primary School & Saturday Club)
1 Hope Church & Community
1 Neston CAN Group
1 48th Scout Group
1 Blacon Adventure Playground
1 Hospice of the Good Shepherd
1 Chester Jets/BiG Storage
1Tera Byte
1 Dee 106.3
1 NACRO
2 Action for Children
1 Ellesmere community
1 Mulberry Centre

15 – 20 “Giant Littlers”

For more information and photos please visit:
http://www.marketingprojects.co.uk/news/chester-the-giant-city

Chester is unique in that it has a Family of Giants and a tradition of giant-making that can be traced back through Guild records to the 14th Century.
Chester’s modern Family of Giants started life when Dave Roberts came across ‘Nathandriel’, A Giant that was on a visit from Huddersfield to Chester. Nathandriel’s maker (and author of Medieval Dancing Giants Lee Gilbert, had brought Nathandriel on a pilgrimage to Chester. In Medieval times Chester had been the Mecca for giant-building and possessed the only known Family of Giants in the country. Giants were walking the streets of Chester in the late 1400s until the puritanical reign of Oliver Cromwell in the mid 1660s.
Dave Roberts was so inspired by the notion that Giants had been such an important activity in Chester he decided to reintroduce the building of Giants into Chester as a creative way in which to encourage young people in Lache and Blacon to gain an insight into their culture and heritage.
In Midsummer 1989 a male giant (still used in the Midsummer Watch today), and the Father of Chester’s current Family of Giants, became the first giant to walk through the streets of Chester for over 300 years.

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