The Giants spectacular visits to Liverpool have become some the city's most memorable cultural events of the past decade.
At their first appearance in 2012, we were introduced to the Little Girl Giant, her Uncle, and Xolo her trusty dog.
Since then, people in Liverpool have been bewitched by the Royal de Luxe Giants so much so that their creator, Jean-Luc Courcoult, was awarded the city’s highest civic honour, the Freedom of the City.
READ MORE: Giants captured the hearts of Liverpool with three unforgettable visits to the city
Sea Odyssey, the Giants’ first visit in 2012, told the story of the Little Girl Giant awaiting a letter from her father, who stowed away on
.
The first iconic visit started when people caught a glimpse of the Uncle fast asleep in Salthouse Dock.
The giant puppets made their way past Liverpool landmarks such as Anfield Stadium and the Chinese Arch, with the three day spectacular ending in a teary reunion at the King's Dock.
The Giants then bid farewell to the city from Canning Dock on a barge and no one could quite believe the visit was over.
Luckily for Liverpool, it was just two years later the Giants returned to the city.
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In 2014, the Giants' second performance titled Memories of August 1914, marked the centenary of the outbreak of World War I.
It told the story of the Liverpool Pals who volunteered to fight when war was declared.
From Friday to Sunday, the Grandmother, Little Girl Giant and pet dog Xolo, made their way around the city.
More than 20,000 in a single day queued outside St George’s Hall for their first glimpse of a Giant we’d not met before.
The Grandmother lay on an enormous wooden bed inside the hall, resting up before her weekend of travelling the city in her just-as-enormous wheelchair.
Memories of August 1914, featured audio recordings of some of Liverpool’s oldest residents’ recollections of what they had been told about the time from people who had lived through it.
If anything, the second visit was even more awe-inspiring than the first, with the Giants venturing to new locations, including Newsham Park, and even getting cheeky with the crowd.
Among the highlights were the Little Girl Giant stopping in the street to have a wee, Xolo the dog scoffing some cake and the pipe-smoking Grandmother releasing a gust of wind that quite literally blew her head off.
The Giants spent the weekend exploring the city, popping by the Chinese Arch, walking past Liverpool Anglican Cathedral and catching the bus to Newsham Park.
Across the city, people marched with them, others found a spot by the side of the road and others created inventive vantage points to catch a glimpse.
After three days of delighting the crowds, the Giants sailed away down the River Mersey, leaving Liverpool heartbroken for a second time.
It wasn't until 2018, that we were treated to the third and final time the Giants returned.
This time on a four day performance which played out over Liverpool and Wirral which was an even more spectacular and ambitious.
When the Giants came to the city back in 2012, they couldn't have known the impact they would have and, years later, how people would talk about when they got to see a girl and her uncle reunited.
T he ECHO has launched a new 8-page nostalgia section in print every Wednesday. You can order a copy here.
