Little Amal: War Horse creators' refugee puppet lands in the UK

The trans-European trek of Little Amal begins its final stage on Tuesday when the giant puppet of a nine-year-old Syrian girl reaches the UK.

Little Amal - who stands 3.5m high - will arrive at Folkestone, Kent as part of an initiative to raise awareness of the problems faced by young migrants.

The project, called The Walk, is from the team that reproduced Calais refugee camp The Jungle on stage.

David Lan, a producer, said it had been "challenging" but "amazing".

In Folkestone, Little Amal will appear on the beach to the sound of bells chiming, before moving on to a disused railway where local choirs and singers will perform a new work by Anil Sebastian of London Contemporary Voices.

Little Amal was constructed by the Handspring Puppet Company, which previously made the equine stars of the stage version of War Horse.

Director Stephen Daldry, another producer, said previously that Little Amal was "perhaps the most ambitious public art project ever attempted".

It takes three puppeteers to operate the puppet; a stilt walker who also brings her face to life and one on each of her arms.

There is a total team of 11 puppeteers, including two from refugee backgrounds. The puppet is crafted from moulded cane and carbon fibre.

Little Amal, whose name means "hope" in Arabic, started her 5,000km journey in Gaziantep, Turkey on 27 July and has travelled across Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and France.

The aim was to shine a light on the stories of the millions of displaced refugee children she represents.

On the last leg of her journey, Little Amal will visit Canterbury, London, Oxford, Coventry, Birmingham, Sheffield and Barnsley before the complex 14-week travelling street theatre ends in Manchester on 3 November.

Since leaving Gaziantep, Little Amal and her entourage of about 25 people have had to deal with Covid border requirements to cross to cross over into the next country on their itinerary.

Along the way, they have taken part in concerts, parties and workshops. And in Rome, Little Amal was blessed by Pope Francis.

Thousands of local people have walked with her through their town or village. Only in one place was any hostility encountered - Kalambaka, in northern Greece.

The village council said it did not want to welcome a "Muslim doll from Syria".

In London, Little Amal will celebrate her 10th birthday, with a cake designed by the chef Yotam Ottolenghi, on Sunday 24 October at a party at the V&A, to which children from across the capital have been invited.

Artistic Director Amir Nizar Zuabi said the London visit was "a new adventure".

"This is a bittersweet moment of encountering a city she's heard a lot about, but also a coming of age as she celebrates her first birthday away from her parents."

There will also be events across the city including at St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Cathedral, the Royal Opera House, the V&A, Southbank Centre, Roundhouse, the National Theatre and Trafalgar Square.

And as The Walk culminates in Manchester there will be a free large-scale outdoor event titled When the Birds Land, produced by Manchester International Festival.