Local dancers, musicians, artists and performers are being asked to take part in the spectacle of Big Man Walking when it steps out in Buckie in the autumn.

The Big Man – a massive puppet standing eight metres tall and weighing one-and-a-half tonnes – will parade through the streets during the Buckie Festival.

As he is guided around the town under the control of 12 puppeteers, residents will be asked to show the giant visitor what makes their community so special.

Big Man Walking artistic director Symon MacIntyre hopes the project will give people in all the towns it will visit a reason to be cheerful about their communities.

He added: "The Big Man will walk through these communities. He will not say anything but he will see everything so it is up to them to decide what they want him to see.

"What is it that we love about the communities that we live in? What we are asking is for people to do whatever it is they do, but to do it for the Big Man."

The project is a joint initiative between arts companies The Puppet Lab and Puppet Animation Scotland with funding being contributed from a range of grant sources.

Big Man Walking will visit six towns across the country, with the Buckie Festival being the only date in the north of Scotland on October 17.

The myth behind the giant is that he visited Scotland many thousands of years ago and helped shape the landscape of the country, forming mountains and carving out rivers. He is now returning to see how the country has changed.

Everything that he sees will be filmed through a camera on his head, and the live pictures beamed onto a website so that they can be seen by people all over the world.

Puppets on a string... awaiting the arrival of the Big Man are Moray Council arts development worker Aya Iguchi-Sherry, artistic director Symon MacIntyre, and Buckie Festival chairman Alistair Farquhar. NS

The giant's return fits in with the Homecoming Scotland 2009 event, which has seen ex-pats return in their droves this year to celebrate their Scottish heritage and roots.

Pupils in all local schools will be asked to roll out the welcome mat for Big Man, with professional arts workers available to help them with their own projects.

It will be entirely up to each school how they want to celebrate his arrival, but they could compose songs, design flags or choreograph dances. They will also be asked to acknowledge the Homecoming link by involving ancestral names into projects so the giant can learn about their past.

Community groups will also be able to get involved in the celebration – other towns have everyone from belly dancers to majorettes performing for the Big Man – and have the opportunity to showcase what they do.

Alistair Farquhar, chairman of the Buckie Festival, hopes there will be a huge response from the local community. He said: "We also have three touring shows coming as part of the festival, but this will be the main event.

"We had expressed an interest in having Big Man Walking, and were delighted when we were offered it because we have worked with Symon in Buckie before.

"It has been a real coup for Buckie to get this event, and as far as we are concerned it's a Moray-wide project for everyone to get involved with.

"Puppet Lab will be contacting schools and groups in the area to get involved, and we are also looking for people who will be willing to help with the stewarding on the day."

l.carter@northern-scot.co.uk

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