The Sultan’s Elephant in London
Jesus, that’s really big!
was my thought when I arrived to see the Sultan’s Elephant at Trafalgar Square at lunchtime today. Then, Jesus, and it’s sat down too!
.
Unfortunately I turned up too late to see the elephant waking the girl up with a shower, then the little girl going for a stroll and letting kids swing on her arms, but I did watch the parade make its way up Haymarket and along Piccadilly.
Words and pictures can’t really do justice to the spectacle, but I’ll list a few fitting adjectives: awesome, engaging, magical, fun, lovely, enchanting, moving, incredible, surreal, wonderful.
After taking a break to dry off, I caught up with them again at Horse Guard’s Parade, where the Elephant sprayed the crowd and the girl danced, before both settled down for the night.
I’m going back for the final day tomorrow, and if you’re in London, you’d be mad not to do the same — Royal de Luxe’s show is like nothing you’ve ever seen (well, without ’shrooms or acid anyway).
Updated to add: I’d have liked to have gone into much more detail about the Sultan’s Elephant, but by the time I’d sorted out the photos, it was already Silly O’Clock in the morning and I was utterly knackered. I also meant to mention that the day ended on a sad note, when I learned that someone I was at school with had just died of brain cancer. We weren’t really friends as such — I don’t think I’d seen him for about ten years, and I had no idea he was ill — but it came as sad and shocking news nevertheless.
Thank you so much for taking such beautiful pictures and capturing the spirit of this amazing event! I cannot beleive I didn’t know about this, I adore anything to do with Marionettes and street theatre. My daughter would have loved it too! I happened to be watching the community channel last night at 1.30am (not a usual occurrance!)and they showed the footage! So breathtaking! What was really moving were the faces and smiles of everybody of all ages and all walks of life. I ended up in floods! I don’t know where this French company are taking them next, but we’re going!!!
Hi Daniela, thanks for the feedback - really glad you liked the photos. What a pity you and your daughter missed it, I’m sure you’d have both loved it. As a 34 year old guy, I found it enchanting and wonderful, so I can only imagine how amazing it must have seemed to children. As you say, there were thousands and thousands of people there, and all of them were walking around with beaming smiles.
The Sultan’s Elephant is meant to be appearing in Belgium and France later this year - I’ll post the details when I can find them.