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City taken over by week of Moomin celebrations

Sarah Turnnidge & Lorenzo Bishop
BBC News, West of England
Gloucester City Council A boy with light brown hair, wearing a blue jumper, looks through a gold and silver telescope. Behind him is a pink board with a white and pink Moomin character on it. Gloucester City Council
Tove Jansson's beloved characters will be brought to life throughout a week of events

Characters from a series of beloved children's tales are set to be brought to life by a series of city events.

The residents of Moomin valley were created by Finnish illustrator and writer Tove Jansson, with the first book, The Moomins and the Great Flood, published in 1945.

A giant picnic and floating artworks are just two of the free family activities in Gloucester to celebrate 80 years of the iconic Moomin stories.

Gloucester Guildhall has been picked as one of four UK arts organisations to run a programme of events marking the milestone, with installations across the city centre.

Gloucester City Council A family sit in two blue canoes padding through the docks. There are two children in orange/red life jackets, and their parents are sat behind them in blue life jackets. Gloucester City Council
Families will have a chance to get up close to the floating artwork

Artist Dana Olărescu, who has spent a year working on floating artwork with a sail bearing a quote from the first Moomin story, said the project was "about connecting people".

With the celebration also falling on Refugee Week many of the events also focus on themes of welcoming and belonging.

"I always think a the city is so much richer when there's diversity in it," Ms Olărescu said. "We get to hear multiple perspectives and see things in a different light."

From 14 to 22 June, a light and sound installation named 'Welcome Chorus' - featuring songs of welcome from across Gloucestershire playing as spectators move through a mass of glowing orbs - will be open to the public in the Guildhall.

Ms Olărescu's artwork will also launch from Gloucester Docks on 14 June, and will star in two performances on 20 June accompanied by live music by local artist Zariq Rosita-Hanif.

Families will also be able to get a closer look throughout the week by taking part in free paddle boarding workshops run by the National Waterways Museum.

Gloucester City Council A small child, held by an adult, looks up in amazement at a blue glowing bulb as part of an art installation. There are other people out of focus in the background, also looking up at dozens of blue, green and orange glowing bulbs suspended from the ceiling. Gloucester City Council
Welcome Chorus will feature recorded songs of welcome from around the county

The programme of events will culminate in a Moomin-themed picnic in Kings Square on 21 June, with free dishes from around the globe for families to try.

Councillor Caroline Courtney, cabinet member for culture and leisure at Gloucester City Council, said the week's themes of "family, belonging and community" were "perfect for our city that has throughout its history welcomed people from all over the world".

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