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Edinburgh CowParade May 15 to July 23, 2006 Background |
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A Public Arts Event The CowParade has become the world's largest Public Arts event. It comprises over 100 life-size decorated fibreglass cows, situated in the streets and parks of Edinburgh. Individual cows are decorated by celebrities, artists and local schoolchildren. At the end of the event, all the cows are auctioned for charity. The first CowParade was held in Zurich in 1998. The event has also been staged in New York, Prague, Barcelona, Sydney and Manchester. Edinburgh Evening News - 1 September 2005, p.3. |
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UPDATE: About 2/3of the cows are to be auctioned for charity. A 'Gala Auction' is to be held at Prestonfield House Hotel, Edinburgh (entry by ticket only) on September 7, 2006. - Peter Stubbs, August 16, 2006
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150 Cows Update: September 2005 Around 150 cows are expected to feature in the CowParade in Edinburgh. All the blank cows will be constructed in Poland. At the end of the event, it is planned that all the cows will be brought together in either Princes Street Gardens or the Meadows. The Irish pop band, Westlife have agreed to be the first to sign up for a cow. Edinburgh Evening News - 23 September 2005, p.19.
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UPDATE: There were, in fact 94 cows in the Parade. I don't think that there was any grand gathering of all the cows in Princes Street Gardens or elsewhere at the end of the Parade. - Peter Stubbs, August 16, 2006
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Photos Update: May 2006 The CowParade began yesterday. There are 94 cows to be found around the streets of Edinburgh. Please click on the image below to see some of them: For further details, see the official Edinburgh CowParade site. Peter Stubbs: May 16, 2006
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Cow Round-the-World Update: June 2006 The Scotsman newspaper reported on June 3, 2006: "One of Edinburgh's artistic cows has been whisked away on a round-the-world trip with the navy, it emerged yesterday. The purple fibreglass cow was press-ganged on to HMS Edinburgh with the blessing of the public art project CowParade and is currently in Sweden The bovine model will send postcards to Edinburgh from each of the new destinations as she makes her way around the world. However, she is expected to be back in the capital in time for the end of the event when all the cows are auctioned for charity." Then, I received an e-mail from Patti-Sally, Kiel, Germany on June 23, 2006, telling me that she had seen the cow on board 'HMS Edinburgh' in Kiel.
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Souvenir Guide Update: August 2006 The Official Cow Parade Edinburgh Souvenir Guide has been produced jointly by City of Edinburgh Council, Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh & Lothian and Mountgrange Group. This is a glossy 52-page souvenir booklet titled Cows in Edinburgh. It is available from book shops - price £4.99. |
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Gala Auction Update: August 2006 The CowParade Gala Auction will be held on September 7, 2006. |
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Update: September 2006 The sale of 64 cows at the Gala Auction at Prestonfield Stables, Edinburgh, raised £253,000 for the charities OneCity Trust and Vetaid. Vladimir Romanov, owner of Hearts Football Club bought 7 of the cows for a total of over £50,000, including: - £10,000 for Thistle be the Cow. - £10,000 for Coo-ween. - £15,000 for Salty which he plans to donate to the Scottish Parliament. Salty Author, Ian Rankin, creator of the Inspector Rebus novels paid £13,000 for Cow of the Castle. Cow of the Castle Edinburgh Evening News: September 8, 2006, p.18 |
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Update - 2007 |
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The Cow Parade, 2007 is being held in Vigo, Spain and in Milan, Italy. But where are the Edinburgh cows now, in May 2007, one year on? Here's where some of them are:
Edinburgh Evening News: May 1, 2007, pp.26-27. I've recently seen: - two of the cows on the garden roof of the new Edinburgh Council offices in Market Street. - two more of the cows within Ocean Terminal. - Peter Stubbs: May 14, 2007 |