Photo credit: Neil Hanna.
STORM, the stunning ten metre tall puppet made from entirely recycled and natural resources, will stride towards the Scottish Maritime Museum at 12noon on Saturday 2 October as part of her national coastal tour encouraging us all to celebrate our seas, care for our coastlines and empower us to put the environment first.
A striking outdoor spectacle, the goddess of the sea Storm, which is Scotland’s largest puppet, marks Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters 2020/21.
Walking tall with the aid of ten puppeteers, she will make a captivating and moving sight as she moves gracefully from Irvine Beach to the Scottish Maritime Museum on Irvine Harbourside and tells us that the oceans are in crisis.
The Scottish Maritime Museum will host a series of fun and climate change related activities around the Storm Walk on Saturday 2 October.
Make Your Own Storm Puppet Make and Take (Drop in activity)
10am – 12pm & 1pm – 3pm Saturday 2 October, Museum Linthouse
On the day of the Storm Walk, the Scottish Maritime Museum will run two Make and Take drop in workshops for those who want to create their own mythical sea creature puppet. Like Storm, the puppets will be made out of recycled materials like milk bottles and margarine tubs and can be crabs, mermaids and jellyfish – anything in the oceans people can think of!
Community Clean Up
11am Saturday 2 October, Coastwatch Scotland Unit on Irvine Beach
On the morning of the Storm Walk, the Scottish Maritime Museum and Irvine Clean Up Crew will conclude their summer series of Clean Up events with a smaller, final litterpick.
Members of the public are invited to meet up for the clean up at the Coastwatch Scotland Unit on Irvine Beach at 11am.
The litterpick will be finished before the Storm walk begins. All litterpicking equipment will be provided and participants will also receive a free ticket to the Scottish Maritime Museum.
The Storm Walk 12noon Saturday 2 October
The Storm Walk will begin at 12noon at the Coastwatch Scotland Irvine Unit, Beach Pavilion on Beach Drive in Irvine (KA12 8FA).
From 12pm – 1pm Storm will walk from Irvine Beach Park along Irvine Harbourside to Puffers Café.
From 2pm – 4pm Storm will be at the Scottish Maritime Museum on Harbour Road (Irvine KA12 8BT).
Nicola Scott, Exhibitions and Events Officer at the Scottish Maritime Museum explains:
“Everyone is invited to come along and join in the wonderful celebratory walk with Storm. It’s going to be a lot of fun as well as a nudge to us all to think about how we all play our part in preserving our waters and coastline.
“The Storm walk is also a big thank you to everyone who has taken part in the Summer Community Clean Up events we have led alongside our friends at Irvine Clean Up Crew, Rubbish Paddlers and Irvine Sea Cadets. We are grateful to everyone who has helped make the Harbourside environment shipshape for Storm, our community and visitors.”
Weighing around 500 kilos, Storm’s eyes are the colour of oyster shells, her hair thick strands of kelp, her voice the chorus of the waves.
She is accompanied wherever she travels by a beautiful soundscape created by the pioneering Scottish folk singer Mairi Campbell.
Two years in the making, Storm is a new feat of mechanical mastery created in response to the climate crisis by the formidable puppeteering duo Symon Macintyre and Kim Bergsagel, founders of Vision Mechanics.
Storm is a free, outdoor theatre spectacle funded by EventScotland through Scotland’s Events Recovery Fund and has been developed in celebration of Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters 2020/21.
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Issued on behalf of the Scottish Maritime Museum by
Joanna Harrison, Mobile: 07884 187404.
