Les Girafes: Audio-described introduction

Between 4pm and 5pm on Saturday 24 August 2024, Bradford is playing host to seven larger-than-life, giant scarlet giraffes that have travelled all the way from France to lead a magical street performance.

They are about the size of a street light, so tower above the crowd as they wander sedately watching everything that’s going on beneath them – occasionally stretching their heads down among the crowds to take a closer look. Each puppet has two people on stilts inside – not unlike the principle of a pantomime cow, just taller. The front person also manipulates the neck that has a light where the neck and head join – so if travelling as night falls, the lights will bob and twinkle.

Traffic will be stopped to allow this unusual procession to make its way towards City Park.

With the giraffes, an opera diva sings wearing a jewelled red dress under a coat of dazzling white feathers. They’re up high on a podium that is turned in circles by six people on the ground. Sometimes the giraffes gather round, appearing to listen.

A clown also spends time on a podium and sometimes joins the opera diva to tease and taunt. They have a shock of red hair made of feathers that stick up and out of their head!

There’s a gaggle of bumbling keepers, circus performers and some musicians. They wear shiny red satin suits, trousers and jackets, with peaked caps with gold trim. Some play instruments, others climb walls – always moving among the crowds, sometimes stuffing money into their jackets when it falls from the sky. Some hold lights to help illuminate the chaos, like tracer beams, while more are raised high, playing instruments on podiums that are dragged along by others. Some are busy with smoke machines to create atmosphere, and every so often a confetti cannon shoots confetti like rose petals into the air that rain down on the crowd. It’s loud and unruly!

This is a free, family-friendly event that’s part of the build-up to Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture.