Three little pigs

Funded by a range of partners, Lichfield District Council’s community development team was proud to work with schools, community groups and local people to help decorate three pigs, as part of The Lichfield Festival’s Pig Parade.

The three pigs joined all 29 pigs that went on display in front of Lichfield Cathedral on Wednesday 6 July, before being taken to locations around the city and district, where they will be on show until the end of the festival.

The thirtieth pig, Pignature, will be signed by the artists taking part in this year’s festival and will go on display at the Festival Auction taking place at The Close on Sunday 17 July at 1pm.

The first pig project led by the community team, involved pupils from The Croft Primary School and Hayes Meadow Primary School. Each school decorated its half of the pig by painting sweets and named it Pig ‘n’ Mix. The brightly coloured pig can be seen hiding in the window of the Cathedral School.

The second pig, Jigsow, was decorated by Jigsaw volunteers and community members over five workshops. Based at the Jigsaw community shop in north Lichfield, the group painted a series of jigsaw pieces on the pig, and even added false eyelashes to its eyes. Jigsow is on display at Lichfield Library in the children’s section.

The third pig, named Meating of the Minds of Burntwood, was created by the GrowWell Care Farm Project group. Helped by Celia Houghton, Lichfield District Council’s Community Arts Development Officer, the group divided its pig into cuts of meat, with each part representing an area in Burntwood. The pig, Meating, can be found along the Three Spires Shopping Centre precinct.

Councillor Colin Greatorex, Lichfield District Council’s Cabinet Member for Organisational Development and Community, said: “We thought the Pig Parade offered a great opportunity to get local people engaged with The Lichfield Festival. With our partner agencies, we were keen to help community groups and members to decorate their own pigs. You can see how much work has gone into decorating all the pigs, and we’re delighted the projects have gone so well. Do take the time to find the three pigs as part of the parade.”

These three pig projects were funded by Lichfield District Council, Lichfield City Council, Burntwood Town Council, Armitage with Handsacre Parish Council and Bromford Living.

To see all the pigs, and to have a go finding the undercover festival pig, Trevor, pick up a free Pig Trail leaflet from The Lichfield Festival Office (7 The Close) or by downloading one from www.lichfieldfestival.org.