Land Of Giants Wows Thousands

Months of planning culminated in a breathtaking outdoor arts event at the weekend as thousands packed into the Titanic Slipways to watch Land of Giants.

The show, part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad, featured a mix of aerial acrobatics, music, pyrotechnics, drums and a cartoon projected on the Titanic Belfast building.

These came together to tell a story about Belfast’s history, starting 1869, through the eyes of a little girl called Grace.

Snapshots of the lives and voices of Belfast people were narrated visually, touching on the heyday of the linen industry, the building of the Titanic, both World Wars and the Troubles.

Culture Minister Caral Ni Chuillin tweeted that it was “beautiful, provocative, emotional, artistic, soulful, & then some” and congratulated those involved.

The team behind the massive outdoor happening managed to keep quite a few surprises up their giant sleeves as a capacity-crowd followed every step of the epic story, despite the rain.

Land of Giants was delivered by a consortium which included Belfast City Council, Beat Carnival, Belfast Community Circus and Young at Art and was funded by Legacy Trust UK with additional support from Northern Ireland Tourist Board, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Belfast City Council and Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure.

The Lord Mayor of Belfast, Gavin Robinson said: “Belfast really shone last night and the show was everything we thought it would be; epic, exciting, colourful, breath-taking, and at times utterly moving; but most importantly it was about Belfast and its people who were the lifeblood of the story and the stars of the show.”

(NE/GK)