Illuminated giant set stalk the streets of Preston in September

The 15-foot illuminated figure will head up a parade from Winckley Square to the Flag Market as part of a Brief Encounter festival on the evening of Saturday September 23.

Brief Encounter is a scaled down event to plug the gap of a “fallow year” between the the biennial Lancashire Encounter which attracted around 15,000 visitors to the city centre last summer and is scheduled to return next year.

“You’ll have to wait until 2018 for the full Lancashire Encounter weekend to return, but the evening of September 23 will be spectacular,” said Coun Peter Kelly, the city council’s cabinet member for culture and leisure.

The Luminous Landscapes procession, featuring the Landscape Giant (pictured), will set out from Winckley Square at around 8pm and go along Cross Street, up Cannon Street into Fishergate and then turn down Cheapside, Market Street, past the market and back along Birley Street to the Flag Market. Stilt walkers and three bands will accompany the parade.

On the Flag Market visitors will be able to watch a light projection show on exterior of the Town Hall building featuring Lancashire landscapes. It will be accompanied by a community choir from across the county.

The packed evening of events will include a long list of free workshops and classes and a number of interactive artworks including a huge “illumaphonium” made up of 200 illuminated chime bars and a bizzre contraption called the “Umbrella Tree.”