MAYOR cllr Sara Butler had a close encounter with Frome’s very own dragon at the Children’s Festival last week.
Legend has it that ‘Drucilla’ has been sleeping in a secret cave beneath Frome for a thousand years and emerged just in time to join in the fun at the Children’s Festival!
Or it could be that she’s just been created by local ‘puppetmaster’, Greg Stephens – you can take your pick!
“Drusilla took nearly three months to make, largely from re-cycled materials,” said Greg, from Monstrous TV, a small independent film studio in Frome, producing magical fantasy stories in video.
“The idea of having a dragon to ride at the Festival emerged from a conversation with Sue Willis of Purple Elephant (who organise the Children’s Festival). We were talking about new and exciting activities for children and young people.
“Having made creature puppets for Monstrous TV for about 10 years, I just needed to increase the scale by about ten times when making the Frome Dragon! Luckily, some experience with furniture making and sculpture helped overcome the structural challenges.
“Many of us love the traditions of myth, folk and fairy stories and are inspired by books like Narnia, The Hobbit and Harry Potter. The hope is that Drucilla will re-connect children of all ages with the hidden realms of magic and wonder, dragons, witches, wizards and fairies, and encourage them to read books and use their imagination!
“The Frome Dragon’s next appearance will be on a float in Frome Carnival on Saturday 24th September from 7pm. Hope to see you there!”
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