Giant dogs Bull Machin and Xolo, created by French theatre company Royal de Luxe, attracted 760,000 spectators to the city last weekend. For three days, the giants explored the city centre. The spectacle concluded on Sunday with a bone race in the Zuid Park. "The event was a huge success," says Patrick De Groote of the city festival “Summer of Antwerp”.
Last weekend French theatre company Royal de Luxe was finally back in the city after an absence of eight years: they brought several giants to the city and that turned out to be a huge success.
In the past, the Big and Little Giant visited the town, as did the Elephant, the Little Woman Giant and the Diver. This time it was the turn of bulldog Bull Machin and his friend, a Mexican hairless dog named Xolo.
The route the giants would follow remained a well-kept secret. On Friday, Bull Machin and his friend Xolo woke on two different Antwerp squares before joining up and walking past the MAS Museum together and through the centre of Antwerp. On Saturday they visited the market square, the Steen Castle and the Oude Leeuwenrui. On Sunday, both giants woke up in the Zuid Park. The highlight occurred in the afternoon: the two dogs competed against each other in a giant bone race. During the walks, the giants also regularly stopped to interact with the public.
The organisers were pleased with the performance: "These were particularly beautiful days. There were more people than we expected right from the start. I also saw many very happy and amazed faces. Everyone was talking about the giant dogs. It is great that the giants are able to captivate the city for the umpteenth time," says Patrick De Groote of the Summer of Antwerp.