THE GREATEST SNOWMEN
THE much-anticipated Walking with The Snowman trail is finally open.
The M.E.N. revealed last month how the free festive event has been planned to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Raymond Briggs’ heart-warming picture book The Snowman.
The trail around MediaCity in Salford Quays features 12 giant Snowman sculptures themed around the song The Twelve Days of Christmas.
The sculptures were officially launched at a spectacular Christmas lights switch-on last night.
Each one has been designed and decorated by one of 12 talented artists, all of whom painted a bee for the Bee in the City trail, which captured the hearts of Manchester’s residents and visitors this summer.
From intricate traditional designs, to bold and cheeky graphic styles, there is an array of artwork by established and emerging artists to explore.
The designs range from Salford-born Laura-Kate Chapman’s Seven Swans a-Swimming – where The Snowman himself has been transformed into a swan – to Manchester illustrator and mural painter Hammo’s design showing 10 fictional members of the House of Lords in their red and white peerage robes leap across his Ten Lords a-Leaping sculpture.
The trail runs until January 6 and from next month will also feature smaller one-metre Little Snowmen sculptures decorated by pupils from more than 40 schools.
While the bigger ones will be auctioned off for Children In Need, the smaller sculptures will be returned to the schools that created them. as a lasting legacy.
A map is now available showing the exact locations of the snowmen around MediaCity at walkingwiththesnowman.co.uk.