Sneak peak at May Day parade puppets

A group of artists is looking for additional volunteers to help a town make this year's May Day the "biggest celebration" in its history.

The parade in Penrith, Cumbria, will feature five huge puppets, built entirely from sustainable materials, which will be walked through the town's streets.

Upfront Puppet Museum's John Parkinson said: "We're looking to get people excited about May Day again and we're preparing big surprises for all attending."

The theatre and museum is asking for people to help push giant floats through the town, which will feature the puppets, to help its "vision" come to life ahead of the bank holiday.

May Day is a festival that dates back nearly a thousand years and marks the beginning of summer. It is usually celebrated at the beginning of May - halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice.

This year's festivities in Penrith will focus on "nature" and features historical figures from Middle Age folklore.

"Our largest puppet is the Green Man, who is a symbol of rebirth," Parkinson said.

"We're going to deck him out with all manor of foliage and he certainly is one of the biggest puppets that we've ever made."

Some of the puppets, which stand at 12ft high (3.6m), will be dragged through the town centre on floats during the parade.

All of the installations used in the festivities have been built out of sustainable materials including willow, wood and hessian.

Molly Agar, who has been helping to construct the puppets, believes the parade will be "special" and something for the town to remember.

"Penrith can be neglected from the arts but it's been great to see just normal people pitching in to help this real statement piece.

"We've been working on these since January, it's been a real process, just constructing the shape of the bodies can take one day and we're not finished yet," she said.

Schools have also been drafted in to help carry several puppet "peace doves" through the parade, which is being held on 4 May.

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