Audiences Flock To HERD For Kirklees Year of Music
8 August 2023
HERD, a large-scale sonic art project orchestrated by composer Orlando Gough and produced by arts production company Artichoke, featuring 23 giant musical sheep attracted thousands of people as they roamed across Kirklees, West Yorkshire. The initiative is part of Kirklees Year of Music 2023, a year-long place-based cultural change programme created by Kirklees Council that aims to celebrate the richness and diversity of Kirklees's musical heritage and strengthen the music and cultural ecology of the area today.
HERD’s giant handcrafted musical sheep sculptures, wove together tales of movement, sound, industry, and labour, symbolising the enduring significance of the wool trade for Yorkshire and its people.
We made sure HERD hit the headlines across the national press and reached millions of people online. Coverage included interviews on BBC Radio 4, Times Radio, stories in The Guardian, Daily Telegraph and ipaper as well as interviews and stories across the music press and regional print, broadcast and online media. Our influencer campaign centred around a three-day trip for influencers, of which the majority were unpaid. The influencers were selected on their ability to reach key audiences for Kirklees Year of Music and had a combined reach of 2m people.
Our work helped maximise public engagement with the week-long event, raise the profile of Kirklees Year of Music and support its ambitions for the area.
Thousands of people experienced the sheep over five days as they travelled around, before coming together for a celebration weekend in the centre of Kirklees attended by 15,000 people.
Our work for Kirklees Year of Music continues.