Basically, if you’re playing at the Wickerman, you’re either moving up from small, local band status, or you might have had a few chart hits several years (or decades) ago, but your fan base primarily comes from people who remember you from their youth.
However, it does have 2 distinct advantages over other, larger music festivals. The first is it’s less than 15 miles away, and the second is it has a giant willow sculpture that goes up in flames at midnight on the Saturday.
And it is damned impressive both before and after it does.
Because I know Trevor Leat, one of the sculptors of The Wickerman (built by leatrigg.com), last year I popped out one day during the building of it to take photos (see - Building The Wickerman), then went along to the festival and took photos of it burning down (see - Burning The Wickerman).
This year we planned it a bit more and I went out on site half a dozen times so I could create a sequence of photos showing it being built at several different stages.
The steel frame was still in place from last year’s sculpture, but they repositioned the arms, removed the bow and this year added antlers to create a stag-headed man design.
Below are a few taster photos of the complete sequence, which can be found by following the links at the end of this post to my Facebook or Flickr albums.
As always, feel free to click on any of the images for larger versions.
Starting at the bottom of last year's frame and working upwards
The arms are repositioned
The scaffolding gets higher
The brave photographer scales the scaffolding to see the head being built.
Admiring festival goers give the completed sculpture a sense of scale
One food stall taking full advantage of bonus publicity...
Going up in flames
Because of the direction of the wind, one arm and one antler remain long after the rest has burned away
Links:
The full set of images on Facebook
The full set of images on Flickr
Trevor Leat's website
Alex Rigg's website
Leat-Rigg website
It's been a year already?!
ReplyDeleteAlthough Hubby the Archery Shop owner might've mourned the loss of that bow, Hubby the Deer Hunter probably will like the update.
Amazing, as always!
Really neat... very creative way to have a big bonfire!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous structure for a skyline. Seems a shame to burn it down.
ReplyDeleteChecked all your photos out on Facebook and flickr...great shots...I enjoyed learning about The Wickerman and the men who built him. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI don't really do bonfires but this is so impressive I'd love to see it. Off to follow the links.
ReplyDeleteHope - made out of 10 feet of scaffolding pole, I don't suppose the bow would have been very useful. However he does commissions if you husband is ever looking for something interesting to have outside the shop :)
ReplyDeleteLegalMist - it stirs something very primal witnessing this huge willow figure going up in flames - it never fails to impress
Jacqui - it's built with burning in mind - stuffed with straw and soaked in diesel. A bit like ice sculptures, the temporary nature of them is what makes them extra special
Theanne & Baron - glad you like the images :)
Pat - it was very impressive. Hope you like the rest of the photos :)
I googled 'wickerman' and found the movie's plot [imagine very scared eyes bugging out of my head now]...
ReplyDeleteLooks amazing! I would have surely made it a point to attend the festival if I could stay put in Scotland for longer :(
ReplyDeleteGuyana_Gyal - the 1970s movie is a cult classic - the only version worth seeing. Do not waste your time with the Nicolas Cage remake. But some of the original movie was shot in this area, which is where they got the idea from. However, they don't stuff the Wickerman with people for the festival :)
ReplyDeleteFalak - it is a shame the timings were so bad while you were here - I would love to have been able to meet up
Has it been that long since I've not visited? Lots of new posts...great images of the 2011 Wickerman.
ReplyDeleteFor several weeks I've rarely been posting more than once a week, but this week more has been happening...
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