Little Amal, a 3.5m tall puppet, has travelled nearly 8,000km from Syria through Europe to finally reach the UK

On Tuesday 19th October, the people of Folkestone will welcome Little Amal to the UK following an epic journey from Syria. Little Amal, a 3.5m tall puppet, has travelled nearly 8000km from the border of Syria across Turkey and through Europe to finally reach the UK.

Creative Folkestone and Folkestone Fringe are inviting the people of Folkestone to gather in Folkestone Harbour Arm station to sing and celebrate kindness and hope during unprecedented times. Amateur and professional singers and choirs from across the region will sing a specially composed song of welcome – Hayati – by acclaimed composer, choir director and Folkestone resident Anil Sebastian and the young people of Kent Refugee Action Network (KRAN).

Arts, culture and humanitarian organisations across the UK are coming together to welcome Little Amal.

The Walk is a travelling festival of hope created by Good Chance Theatre and Handspring Puppet Company. The 3.5m tall puppet of a 9-year-old Syrian refugee girl is travelling to Manchester from the Syrian border, shining a light on the stories of the millions of displaced refugee children she represents. At this time of multiple crises, her urgent message to the world is “Don’t forget about us”.

The Walk is a four-month long 8,000 km journey made by Little Amal across Europe searching for her mother. It began near the Turkey/Syria border on 27 July. Having travelled through Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and France, she will arrive in the UK on 19th October. Each village, town and city she visits along the way welcome Little Amal with major new arts commissions, city-wide community performances as well as intimate events involving people of all ages.

Following her arrival in Folkestone, Little Amal will also visit Dover and Canterbury before heading towards her final destination in Manchester. The Walk will culminate in Manchester on 3rd November with a finale event produced by Manchester International Festival.

It takes three puppeteers to operate Little Amal - a stilt walker and a puppeteer on each of her arms. The team of 10 puppeteers includes two from refugee backgrounds who have themselves travelled the route. The puppet is crafted from moulded cane and carbon fibre.

The Walk is produced by Stephen Daldry, David Lan, Tracey Seaward and Naomi Webb for Good Chance Theatre (the producers of The Jungle), in association with the Handspring Puppet Company, the creators of the War Horse puppets. The artistic director is Amir Nizar Zuabi. The Walk brings together celebrated artists, major cultural institutions, community groups and humanitarian organisations and more from the UK and Europe like never before.

The Walk is available to follow via a new digital guide on the Bloomberg Connects app. Celebrating the voices of refugee and migrant artists across Turkey and Europe, the guide includes exclusive content, behind-the-scenes footage and educational resources for teachers and young people. Bloomberg Connects is a free digital guide to cultural organisations around the world that makes it easy to access and engage with arts and culture from mobile devices.

On 17th September, The Walk launched ’The Amal Fund’ in association with Choose Love and Good Chance to raise money and support children like Amal in rebuilding their lives.

Please see: https://donate.chooselove.org/campaigns/walks-amal-fund/