Leukaemia Care to launch brand new Unicorn sculpture trail in Bristol

Leukaemia Care, the UK’s leading leukaemia charity, has announced that it will be launching its inaugural Unicornfest, a public art sculpture trail, in Bristol in 2023.

Set to become the city’s latest iconic arts trail, Unicornfest 2023 will see a giant herd of unicorns, decorated by Bristol artists and schools’ creatives displayed in prominent locations across the city from 1 July - 3 September 2023. 

The trail will be announced at an exclusive unveiling event at Circomedia in Bristol this evening, where Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees is set to unveil the first of the ‘life-sized’ unicorns and foals, decorated by Bristol artist Jenny Urquhart, graffiti artist Inkie and children from St Werburgh’s Park Nursey school.

Unicornfest, part of the 650th anniversary celebrations for Bristol, seeks to unite the business and creative sectors, as well as local communities and schools across Bristol and the surrounding area, bringing art, colour and fun to the streets of the city next year.

“The aim of this exciting, high profile, public art event is to celebrate Bristol’s unique heritage and creativity, engage the local community, lift spirits, and raise awareness of leukaemia,” says Zack Pemberton-Whiteley, Chief Executive Officer of Leukaemia Care. “Bristol has a long history with unicorns and we want to recognise that through fantastic artwork and storytelling about the city.”

Leukaemia affects around 10,000 people a year and is the most common cancer in children.

Leukaemia Care is the UK’s leading leukaemia charity combatting these statistics. For over 50 years, the organisation has been dedicated to ensuring that everyone affected receives the best possible diagnosis, information, advice, treatment and support.

650 Years of Bristol

Unicornfest is offering local businesses the chance to be directly involved with this exciting initiative via event and sculpture sponsorship.

Talented local and regional artists, designers and crafts people are invited to submit their unicorn design ideas. These will be shortlisted and combined into a ‘Unicorn Artists’ portfolio, which sponsors can browse and select their favourite unicorn designs.

The high profile, nine-week trail will end with a Unicornfest Auction Preview Festival for unicorn fans of all ages to say their final farewells before the ‘blessing’ of unicorns (as a group of unicorns is known) trot off to be auctioned to raise funds for Leukaemia Care. 

Mr. Pemberton-Whiteley added: “We're looking forward to working with businesses, schools and community groups to bring this exciting trail to life. As well as the many fantastic promotional benefits that being a sponsor brings, you will also be helping to raise money for Leukaemia Care and enabling us to continue our work supporting anybody who is affected by a diagnosis of leukaemia.”

Leaving a lasting legacy

The festival will provide a unique opportunity for community engagement. It will seek to engage Bristolians and visitors of all ages, increase footfall to sculpture locations, raise the profile of sponsors and artists, and bring a smile to the faces of all who behold the magical herd. 

The trail will also feature a mini herd of school foals that will be exclusively available to schools, community groups and charities to decorate and display, each to be decorated in a different style, telling a unique story that will be shared for many years to come.

Further, the initiative will include a programme of education in local schools in partnership with event partners Bridging Histories, to help students learn about Bristol’s past and create positive change for the future.

Get involved

The event already has the backing of a host of brilliant creative minds and talents in Bristol including Rocketmakers, Purplefish, Bridging Histories, Bristol Ideas, Visit West and Business West, and there are plenty more opportunities for local businesses and organisations to get involved. 

There are several Unicornfest sponsorship packages available, including Gold and Platinum packages, Presentation Partner and overall ‘mane’ event sponsorship. For more information about how you can get involved, you can download the sponsor pack at www.theunicornfest.co.uk or email jodie@theunicornfest.co.uk for details.
Experienced artists who would like to decorate a unicorn are invited to download the Artists’ pack and submit their designs via the website. Schools and community groups interested in taking part in the education programme are invited to download the Education pack from the event website at www.theunicornfest.co.uk