Date issued: 22 July 2019
150 brightly coloured umbrellas have been installed in Culver Square, as part of Colchester Borough Council’s Better Colchester campaign. The installation of the umbrellas took place on Sunday 21 and Monday 22 July.
The umbrellas are coloured purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red, and some of them will be lit after nightfall. The umbrella installation is hoped to attract visitors to Colchester and cheerfully light up the town after dark.
The project forms part of a wider Better Colchester initiative to celebrate and light up some areas of Colchester including a section of the Roman Wall and Colchester Castle.
Cllr Mark Cory, Leader of the Council said: “Our Better Colchester campaign is all about celebrating what Colchester has to offer. This colourful and innovative installation is a new thing to see when visiting the town centre. I’ve seen similar installations in other countries – it really brightens up the street scene. As part of the work to make our town more inviting, this adds some colour to our streets, hopefully getting residents, visitors and businesses smiling.”
Cllr Julie Young, Portfolio Holder for Culture and Performance and Deputy Leader of the Council, added: “There are many places, including famous London streets, that have installations of this type. We want to make Colchester even more attractive for residents and visitors and I hope we’ll see many people come and look. We are pleased to work with Culver square to brighten up this shopping area by adding this stunning installation.”
Dave Robertson, Manager of Culver Square, said: “We thank ‘Our Colchester’ BID for bringing together Colchester Borough Council and Culver Square to deliver this fantastic project. We were only too happy to assist the council in providing space for this art installation and hope it will be enjoyed by the people of Colchester and encourage new visitors to our town. We look forward to partnering in the future on other similar projects.”
Page last reviewed: 22 July 2019