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Gentle giant will take first steps at Ed Fest

Festival’s official mascot inspired by Cranbrook’s beloved elephant, Ed
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Local artist Marcel Dou Roig is building a 16ft elephant puppet for Ed Fest in September, a new event that will feature local music and art. The puppet was inspired by Cranbrook Ed, an elephant who became famous in 1926 after he escaped the travelling circus in Cranbrook and survived in the woods for a month and a half (Gillian Francis photo)

From the depths of a garage located on the southeast side of town, a gentle giant emerges.

Cranbrook artist Marcel Dou Roig is hard at work. He’s creating a massive 16 foot elephant puppet, which will roam Rotary Park at Ed Fest on Sept 9. Ed Fest is a new community event that will feature public art, live music and beer gardens. Both the festival and the puppet were inspired by “Cranbrook Ed,” an elephant who became famous in 1926 after he escaped the travelling circus in Cranbrook and survived in the woods for a month and a half.

“For me, Ed becomes this free spirit. [He represents] inner creativity that we all have inside of us and letting it go free. For this show, Ed is not going to be held back. He’s going to be free and he’s going to roam forever wild,” said Dou Roig.

Puppet Ed has a trunk and body made of tubing, tusks made from pool noodles, and skin made from a rough and textured burlap fabric. He is anchored to a stand crafted from two boat trailers, where three people will sit and drive him around downtown. Ed will be adorned with a circus headdress when he attends the festival.

Dou Roig has been working on Ed since the beginning of the year. As each day passes, the elephant becomes more lifelike.

“There was a moment where we put the head up and it was like ‘woah.’ You could almost feel the energy of that presence,” recalled Dou Roig. “Then we put his eyes and now he starts looking at things and that was very incredible … As a puppet creator you are always looking for that moment when the puppet is going to start talking to you and I think that he already did. He’s alive. He’s really calm. The energy of an elephant is very grounding. It’s just very down-to-earth.”

READ MORE: Key City Theatre’s latest arts season brings iconic elephant mascot “Ed” back to life

He took a fair bit of artistic licence with the puppet. Ed is not an exact replica of his predecessor, as the real Cranbrook Ed was much smaller.

Originally from Barcelona, Dou Roig was performer for 25 years. He often made puppets for his street shows, some that were even larger than Ed.

“In Europe there is a lot of tradition with street performance and building things that normally are small, but are big. Puppetry is an art in and of itself. Bringing this to this side of the world, it’s maybe a little new, but it’s beautiful.”

Dou Roig said Ed is excited to be the festival’s official mascot and meet new people at Rotary Park.

“He’s looking forward to seeing a good crowd down in Cranbrook and being able to play with everybody.”

“If you don’t pay attention he might just go behind you and give you a bump with the trunk.”


@gfrans15
gillian.francis@cranbrooktownsman.com

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Gillian Francis photo
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Dou Roig also created two smaller elephant head masks that will also be displayed at the festival (Gillian Francis photo)


About the Author: Gillian Francis

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