Oxfordshire schoolchildren challenged to design wicker man for big bonfire night (From Bicester Advertiser)

Oxfordshire schoolchildren challenged to design wicker man for big bonfire night

4:18pm Wednesday 27th January 2010

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CHILDREN have been asked to design the 36ft star attraction at Oxford’s biggest bonfire night.

Dan Barton, the 40-year-old artist responsible for the giant burning wicker man at the South Park firework display, called for school-age boys and girls in the county to come up with a new design for this year’s spectacle.

The oak and steel-framed creation will go up in flames in front of thousands of spectators at the Oxford Round Table event on Saturday, November 6.

At 36 feet tall and eight feet wide, the wicker man will be bigger than ever before and will be displayed at events in the run-up to Guy Fawkes night.

Mr Barton, of Fyfield Wick, said: “We’ve brought the whole competition forward this year and we’re trying to get as many schools, nurseries, Scouting organisations, hospitals and library groups, and anyone else who wants to be involved, to come up with designs. There will be two winners, the person who designs the external wicker man and the internal wicker sculpture made of steel underneath, which will be a secret until the outside burns away.

“The competition ends in March and I want to build it by May, and go on tour between May and October.

“We are hoping to take it to places like the Newbury Show, Cornbury Festival, Blenheim Palace, into the centre of Oxford, and on the side of M40, up on the hill near Stokenchurch.

“Hopefully, it will encourage more people to go to the fireworks.”

Mr Barton said the design should be based on a mythical person or character to be made out of wooden laths and straw.

Robert Hardy, the actor who plays Cornelius Fudge in the Harry Potter films, and chairman of the charity which provides respite for sick or terminally ill children in Oxfordshire, Rosy, will be one of the competition’s judges.

Last year, a 26ft ‘Ice Princess’ design by seven-year-old Joshua Webb, of Wallingford, was used.

The winners could also take home a small cash prize for their school or organisation.

Father-of-two Mr Barton, who restores historic buildings, said: “I’ve come to the conclusion that people are just fascinated by fire. People can watch it for hours and it has an amazing wow factor.”

Mr Barton will sell Wicker Man Oxford merchandise, including T-shirts, mugs and masks to help Rosy. He is also looking for a company to sponsor the competition, volunteers to give administrative help and local celebrity judges to join the judging panel.

Designs have to be sent to Wicker Man Oxford, PO Box 582 Abingdon, OX14 9FJ, before March 31.

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