Thursday Dec 26, 2024
Thursday Dec 26, 2024
Saturday, 21 February 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
‘The Incredible and Phenomenal Journey of The Giants to the Streets of Perth’ is how the organisers of Perth International Arts Festival 2015 introduced this remarkable show. People – young and old – from all walks of life filled the streets for three days to watch this extraordinary performance. An estimated 1.4 million turned up.
The giants is a fascinating story. Once upon a time in a desert in the west, a Little Girl Giant fell from the sky into one of those communities in love with the stars, the trees, the water. One day, she found an old book full of love and sorrow, hope and lost battles. The Little Girl Giant knew then what she had to do. With a tear in her eye, she climbed aboard her boat and set sail across the sand for the big city. She was looking for the Giant Diver.
It was a carnival atmosphere from Friday with the huge crowds waiting to see the six-metre Little Girl Giant looking for the 11-metre Diver Giant. As the sun set on Saturday, the Diver sat in the city’s Langley Park awaiting the arrival of his niece. She entered the park perched atop her boat. She was raised from the vessel, then glided through the air and embraced The Diver. She ended her day’s journey nestled in The Diver’s lap.
They spent the night in the park hugging each other. They were loudly snoring away early Sunday morning. When the pair woke up they were surrounded by a cheering crowd. Soon the Little Girl Giant glided through the air before showing off her dance moves as The Diver watched on.
Later they paraded through the streets on the last lap of their journey before embarking down the Swan River on a barge.
The Giants was brought to Perth by the French street theatre company, Royal de Luxe.
“This has been an extraordinary event,” WA Premier Colin Barnett told the crowd as The Giant watched on.
“You have come out in your hundreds of thousands to support The Giants,” he said thanking the crowds. “I thank you very much. You have made this a wonderful event and an experience of a lifetime.”
The event proved to be a boost for tourism. WA Tourist Council Chief Executive said it was too early to put a dollar value on the economic benefit the A$5 million event generated but restaurants, shops, bars and hotels were bustling over the weekend.
“Certainly our experience has been that events like this are very successful in bringing tourists an when you do bring in tourists, they do spend an extraordinary sum of money,” he said. “Most visitors to WA will spend well over $1,000 over a couple of days in Perth and that’s a real boost into the state economy.”
