Giant Indian puppets to take over Kensington street

Towering puppets, live percussion and moving sculpture will make their way along a west London street to celebrate South Asian artistic, musical, and craft traditions.

The Giants on the Move parade will be held at Exhibition Road, South Kensington, on Saturday and Sunday.

Organisers Serendipity Arts said the event drew on India's rich heritage of artisanal puppet-making and was "an immersive celebration of movement, participation and public art".

It forms part of the Great Exhibition Road Festival, a free annual celebration of science. This year's event marks 175 years since the Great Exhibition, which showcased the industrial and cultural achievements of the UK and other nations to the world.

The event is directed by Dadi Pudumjee, one of India's most influential puppeteers, who has spent more than five decades working across traditional Indian forms, object theatre, masks, projection and music.

He founded the Ishara Puppet Theatre in 1986 and the Ishara International Puppet Festival in 2001, and has presented work across Asia, Europe, the Americas and Australia.

Pudumjee has been recognised with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1992 and the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honours, in 2011. He has also been president of UNIMA International, the global puppetry organisation.

Serendipity Arts is a not-for-profit organisation supporting artists across visual art, music, theatre, dance and design in South Asia and beyond.

Its annual festival in Goa, which marked its 10th anniversary in December, has grown into South Asia's largest multidisciplinary arts event.

The Great Exhibition Road Festival runs from 12:00 to 18:00 BST on 6 and 7 June. The procession is at 12:45 and 15:15 each day. All events are free.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk