ELEPHANT PARADE UK TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED.

On 21 July 2013, Elephant Parade’s instantly recognisable elephant statues will return to the UK for a 375-day tour in partnership with intu, owner of some of the UK’s best shopping centres. From Glasgow to London, Manchester to Nottingham, intu will be bringing the 100-strong elephant herd to over half the UK population in 13 locations, making it the longest-running Elephant Parade to date – and its first ever nationwide tour (see notes to editors for list of dates and venues).

Elephant Parade (www.elephantparade.com) brings artists, celebrities and businesses together to create vibrant public art creations on life-size baby elephant statues to raise awareness of and funds for The Asian Elephant Foundation - a charity which supports elephant conservation projects. Previous Elephant Parades that have trail-blazed cities around the world have raised millions for elephant conservation and drawn contributions from top public figures, including Ricky Gervais, Leona Lewis, Tommy Hilfiger, Jack Vettriano, and Joss Stone. BBC One Show’s Alex Jones, Mercy Delta and Magnetic Man are among the celebrities supporting the 2013 parade (full artist line up to be announced in June).

What’s coming: taking Elephant Parade to a new level

Having admired the way Elephant Parade has raised awareness of a serious issue through fun and vibrant expos, intu wanted to bring Elephant Parade back to the UK but give it a far bigger platform. With over 30 million people visiting its shopping centres every year, intu wanted to use its size and scale to help spread Elephant Parade’s message to over half of the UK’s population.

· Digital: For the first time, the Elephant Parade will be supported by a digital tour, giving everyone a chance to participate rather than simply observe. In addition to the 100-strong herd, thousands of design images from people of all ages and walks of life will be broadcast in the shopping centres, as intu draws on the free WiFi which is currently being installed throughout its centres.

· Schools: Another first, intu is sponsoring a conservation education programme that will be run for schools, which will result in dozens of school elephants joining the tour, the first time school children will create elephants to join the actual Elephant Parade.

· More than a city: Past parades have been confined to a short, sunshine-dependent spell in a single town or city. By taking the tour indoors into prime retail space, intu is giving Elephant Parade exposure to a far greater and more diverse audience.

· Celebrating diversity: The tour gives a platform for established and new art talent, in an artist line-up geared to represent the UK regions. From fishing villages to city cathedrals and rural landscapes, the herd creates a national tour with local flavour.

Breaking records for Elephant Parade

Elephant Parade’s partnership with intu has allowed it to break its own records for an Elephant Parade exposition.

· Fastest: More than 600 design ideas were submitted within a month of Elephant Parade announcing plans to return to the UK and commissions for the full herd were completed in just 40 days.

· Youngest: The forthcoming tour will also feature the youngest ever artist to gain a commission for an Elephant Parade statue. Amardip Ahluwalia (aged 8) from Copthorne Preparatory School in West Sussex is creating a half-size Elephant Parade statue that will join the national tour.

· Biggest: Thousands of Elephant Parade design ideas will be submitted during the tour, making it the biggest artisitic engagement exercise for any Elephant Parade.

· Quickest: Most parades take 6-12 months to plan. This tour which covers 13 times more locations and will run for seven times longer than most single city parades has been put together in less than half that time.

Joris Linders, Managing Director at Elephant Parade commented: “This is our first country tour, an event that will run for six times longer than a usual parade and will allow us to connect with more people. Having visited 11 cities around the world, we wanted to do something different for our return to the UK and moving most of the tour indoors opens up exciting opportunities to do things we have never been able to do before. Given the massive space requirements for an indoor tour, intu were a perfect fit, in terms of having the floor-space, national reach and resources to accommodate our ambitions and needs. Their new digital programme for UK shopping centres will also enable the public to get involved in new ways through social and mobile media.”

Trevor Pereira commercial director at intu commented: “Elephant Parade has set the standard for bringing the fun into supporting an important cause, and their elephant statues have become iconic around the world. We wanted to make this tour the people’s parade – to enable people from all walks of life to be part of an Elephant Parade, whilst also giving them exposure to a national audience for the first time. Raising lasting awareness of the conservation issues is as important this time round as just raising money for the Asian elephant. We have capped the prices of tour elephants so more people can get involved in fulfilling a dream to own one and our schools programme, the digital tour and the live painting workshops will give people more ways to get involved in the parade. Perhaps above all, this festival of colour will unite communities and give people from all walks of life a reason to smile as the elephants bring moments of surprise and delight that will make a normal day out quite special.”

For more information, images or to arrange interviews with intu or Elephant Parade contact:

Guy Bellamy: 07766 775216 guy@elephantcommunications.co.uk

Lindsay Marino: 07581 180501 lindsay@elephantcommunications.co.uk

Harriet Powell: 07738 160961 harriet@elephantcommunications.co.uk

Notes to editors

1. More announcement information is available to download now from:http://www.intugroup.co.uk/media-centre/news/2013/may/elephant-parade-goes-national-with-intu/

·  Artist Inspirations: stories behind the new elephant creations

·  Artist comments on the forthcoming Elephant Parade tour

·  Elephant Parade: some key facts and figures

2. To download high resolution images of the first two finished elephants and to preview some of the first design ideas to be commissioned for the tour, visit the Elephant Parade social newsroom at:http://www.mynewsdesk.com/pressroom/elephant-parade

3. The elephant Parade national tour: Official tour venues and dates

17 July 2013  Preview day event (surprise location)

21 July 2013  intu Watford (4 weeks)

19 August 2013  intu Trafford Centre, Manchester (4 weeks)

16 September 2013  intu Metrocentre, Gateshead (4 weeks)

14 October 2013  intu Eldon Square, Newcastle (4 weeks)

18 November 2013  Cardiff (3 weeks)

15 January 2014  intu Braehead, Glasgow (4 weeks)

3 February 2014  intu Potteries, Stoke (4 weeks)

3 March 2014  intu Victoria Centre/Broadmarsh, Nottingham (5 weeks)

7 April 2014  intu Chapelfield, Norwich (4 weeks)

5 May 2014   intu Lakeside, West Thurrock, Essex (4 weeks)

2 June 2014  intu Uxbridge (4 weeks)

30 June 2014  intu Bromley (4 weeks)

28 July 2014  Central London

4. Join the tour conversation on Facebookwww.facebook.com/elephantparadefan

Elephant Parade is the world’s largest open air art exhibition of decorated elephant statues that seeks to attract public awareness and support for Asian elephant conservation. Created by local and international artists, each elephant is a unique piece of art. Parades have been run in the following cities:

Rotterdam 2007

Antwerp 2008                     

Amsterdam 2009

Emmen Zoo 2010 

London 2010 

Bergen 2010 

Heerlen 2011

Copenhagen 2011 

Milan 2011 

Singapore 2011 

Hasselt 2012