Giants take over downtown, Old Montreal on Saturday and Sunday
Five things to know about puppets created by Royal de Luxe, a street-performance troupe based in Nantes, France
Look up — way up.
Giant marionettes are set to take over parts of downtown and Old Montreal as part of the city’s 375th birthday celebrations. Here are five things you should know about them.
1. They are big
2. There’s a story
The Deep Sea Diver is arriving from the St. Lawrence River.
“Just like the coureurs des bois, he moves his encampment regularly, an old container filled with useless treasures found in sunken ships: a submarine compass, a ship’s wheel, a captain’s hat and many other souvenirs that he looks at every now and then,” the organizers explain.
In Montreal, he’s about to meet up with his long lost niece, Little Girl-Giant, who, “just this spring, was among the glaciers of the Great North, trying to free her boat, which was wedged in the maws of two icebergs.”
3. The event runs three days
They’re not spending the entire summer here. Like tourists on a weekend getaway, the giants are in town only Friday to Sunday.
4. They have a busy schedule
The giants have set itineraries.
On Saturday, for example, the giants will “wake up” at 10:30 a.m. – the Little Girl-Giant at Gare Viger, the Deep Sea Diver at Maison Radio-Canada. They’ll wander around – separately – along Ste-Catherine St., René-Lévesque Blvd. and other downtown and Old Montreal streets, before meeting up at Maison Radio-Canada at 6:45 p.m.