New home needed for giant illuminated paper whale

Organisers of Morecambe's Baylight Festival are trying to find a home for this year's star attraction - a giant light-up whale.

The 23 ft (7m) tissue-covered wicker whale, created for the event by community artist Donna Campbell and local helpers, led the dusk parade along the promenade in February.

It now has to be moved from its temporary "secret location" storage facility by the end of this week.

"We just need somewhere to keep it safe because we want to bring it out year after year," said Johnny Bean from festival organisers Morecambe Sparkle. "People absolutely loved it."

He added: "It's made so that we can redecorate it every year and change it according to what our theme might be, so we can have community workshops again and get people involved in decorating it.

"The battery lights come off so it's not any kind of long-term risk for storage, but it's a one-piece thing so it does need quite a bit of storage."

Mr Bean said the covered market on Morecambe promenade had suggested that it would "like to hang it from the roof".

He added that eight people had carried the giant whale during the festival.

"It's not particularly heavy, but it's bulky," he explained.

"I'm sure logistics companies have this problem every day of the week!"

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