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The five-day event centred around three giant marionettes, called Little Girl, her pet dog called Xolo and Grandmother, who walked 30 miles around the city between them, passing various landmarks including William Brown Street, the Town Hall, the World Heritage Waterfront, the Chinese Arch, the Metropolitan and the Anglican Cathedrals, Newsham Park and Canning Dock.
French street theatre company Royal de Luxe brought the oversized puppets to life. The event was the third time the company performed in the UK, previously performing in Liverpool in 2012 for the Sea Odyssey event - marking the Titanic centenary - which generated £32m for the local economy and attracted 800,000 spectators.
Memories of August 1914 was commissioned jointly by Liverpool City Council and 14-18 NOW, the First World War centenary cultural programme. It also acted as the finale for the 2014 International Festival for Business, which has consisted of more than 100 events taking place throughout June and July in Liverpool with the aim of accelerating UK economic growth.
Members of the public were invited to see the 24-foot-tall Grandmother puppet sleeping in a giant bed in Liverpool’s St George’s Hall for two days from 23 July, before the marionettes set off on their own journeys around the city.
To mark the occasion, a special candlelit, three-course dinner was held at St George’s Hall last Thursday (24 July), which saw 105 guests attend. The Yacht Club Liverpool catered for the event, which consisted of an evening of live 1914-inspired music and entertainment.
On the following morning (25 July) a special Champagne breakfast was held in the same venue, which saw more than 400 guests attend, including international visitors and industry representatives, organised by Culture Liverpool.
Claire McColgan, Liverpool City Council's director of culture, told Event it was a dynamic show allowing the marionettes to interact with members of the public in different places. "We learnt a lot from the Sea Odyssey event and it was apparent how successful the Memories of August 1914 was, with bars and restaurants full to capacity, and 40,000 spectators coming to see the Grandmother alone at St George's Hall."McColgan said the economic impact of the event on the city was very visible, with business such as shopping centre Liverpool One seeing a 16.9% increase in footfall compared to the same period last year, as well as a 5.7% lift on the Sea Odyssey event in 2012.
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