Word on the Street: What do you think about the Ipswich elephant art trail?

Elmer the elephant is set to stand proud at various locations across Ipswich in 2019 as the follow-up to last year’s Pigs Gone Wild trail. But what do the people of Ipswich think about the new theme?

The trail is called Elmer’s Big Parade Suffolk and will be based on the popular patchwork elephant who turns 30 in 2019.

It will see St Elizabeth Hospice, which turns 30 in the same year, join forces with Wild in Art and Elmer publishers Andersen Press.

Mark Millar, St Elizabeth Hospice’s chief executive, said: “We are delighted to announce our latest event Elmer’s Big Parade Suffolk.

“Pigs Gone Wild was a huge success raising significant funds for the vital work we do at the hospice but also attracting over 250,000 visitors to Ipswich town centre and the Waterfront and contributing £1million to the local economy.

“The 2019 event, which coincides with both ours and Elmer’s 30th anniversary, is planned to be even bigger, running for two weeks longer and with an anticipated 50 Elmer sculptures compared to the 40 pigs we had last time.”

The elephants will appear in the town in June 2019 and will be on display for 12 weeks.

Thousands of families from across the region visited last year’s pig parade, where they were able to collect stickers, download an app and follow a map to find each creature.

The first three sculptures were unveiled last night are on display at Ipswich Town Hall on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10am-4pm.

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