La Princess _320
MORE than 200,000 people are estimated to have seen the giant 50ft spider that captivated Liverpool for the past five days.
From the moment La Princess first appeared on Concourse House, in Lime Street, last Wednesday, to its disappearance down the Queensway tunnel last night, Liverpool was in thrall to the 37-tonne creature.
Last night, tens of thousands of people packed into the city centre to watch the amazing spectacle unfold for the final time.
Liverpool Culture Company’s creative director Phil Redmond said that the live outdoor event had “exceeded all expectations”.
He said: “You have it in your head what you think will happen when you book these things, but you don’t know for sure until it finally gets here.
“I sat on the steps of St George’s Hall just watching it all and the way the crowd were enjoying it, and I thought, ‘yes, that went OK, that’s exactly what we wanted.’
“I think the best time was on Friday, when, even though there was all that rain, people still turned out to watch.
“This has been a real family event. People have enjoyed the spectacle and the sheer scale of the imagination behind it.
“It helps to remind everyone that Capital of Culture lasts all year and there’s more to come.”
Many of those present last night had arrived early to grab a good vantage point on William Brown Street to watch the procession as it went past.
Among them were Bernadette Morrow, from Walton, who came with her two children Annie, nine, and Sally, six, and Bernadette’s own mother, Brenda.
Bernadette said: “We arrived at 6pm and we’ve been sitting there for four hours in total. But the time just flew by, we wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
“We’d come down to the Cun-ard building on Saturday morn-ing to see the spider and were a bit disappointed when it didn’t move, so we made a point of coming tonight to see it in action.
“It was absolutely fantastic to see the spider move and to hear the music, and then to see it disappear down the tunnel. It was like something from a film. As we had waited for so long, we could also see how the crowds grew as the hours went by.”
Among the thousands of others who bade a fond farewell to the creature were Lucia Vyskocova, originally from Slovakia, but now living in Neston, Wirral.
She said: “I’d seen it on Friday night at the Albert Dock, but tonight was special with all the fireworks.
“It was a great finale, the weather was nicer, and there was no hassle.
“The music was great, really poignant. I’m going to miss the spider!”
A spokesman for the Liverpool Culture Company said: “Hundreds of thousands of people are estimated to have seen La Machine while it was in Liverpool.”
