​Westquay welcomes Elephant Parade

Westquay welcomes Elephant Parade

25 life-size baby Asian elephant statues will be exhibited throughout Westquay for a month

Starting from Saturday 22nd May, Westquay shopping centre will be the home for Elephant Parade, the world’s largest art exhibition of decorated elephant statues.

Founded in 2006, the vibrant Elephant Parade art exhibitions inspire the communities they visit, raise awareness on elephant conservation and have drawn on artistic contributions from hundreds of public figures including: Ricky Gervais, Alex Jones, Claudia Schiffer, Bryan Adams, Sir Richard Branson, Rylan Clarke,Leona Lewis, Tommy Hilfiger, Jack Vettriano, and Joss Stone.

Each elephant statue is totally unique and designed by an artist from around the globe. The beautiful, colourful creations will brighten up visitor’s days and the exhibition will be spread around the entire centre, including the Upper Terrace and Esplanade. Along with art, each installation offers a series of fun facts about these amazing creatures and the artist behind the designs. Adding a local element, the plinths which the elephants will sit on are being created by Southampton Wood Recycling Centre.

The new exhibition in Southampton’s Westquay shopping centre represents Elephant Parade’s first ever visit to the south coast and follows from Elephant Parade’s London event in summer 2010 and UK tour during 2013-14..

Laura Read, General Manager at Westquay said: “At Westquay we pride ourselves on being able to offer memorable experiences for our customers, and the Elephant Parade is no exception. As well as being picture-perfect family fun, it is also an opportunity to get to know more about these wonderful animals. We are really pleased to welcome the Elephant Parade to Westquay and to help their mission to support and raise awareness for elephant conservation.”

René de Wit, Managing Director at Elephant Parade added:“After more than a decade of visiting so many great cities around the world, Elephant Parade is thrilled to make its debut on the south coast of England at Westquay – and, as the UK re-emerges from Covid restrictions, we hope our vibrant art pieces will give people a reason to smile, meet friends and have a great day out at Westquay.”

The elephants will be exhibited at Westquay until Sunday 20th June. By sharing elephant selfies using #WQelephantparade and by tagging @Westquay, visitors might get a chance to win a bundle of prizes.

Following the opening of non-essential retail in April, this week Westquay fully reopened all indoor leisure activity in line with latest Government guidelines and has a series of experiences for all to enjoy across spring and summer coming to the centre. Elephant Parade will complement the Spritz Social Al fresco bar currently open on The Esplanade offering refreshing summer cocktails, craft beer and Aperol Spritz.

For more information about the Elephant Parade at Westquay visit:

https://www.west-quay.co.uk/events/elephant-parade

Miniature replicas of past and current elephant designs can be purchased at the Elephant Parade international web store -https://www.elephantparade.com/shop