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Giant Dancing Thistles Sculpture Unveiled at Edinburgh Airport on St Andrew’s Day

Posted: 30th November 2015

30/11/15  EDINBURGH AIRPORT Edinburgh Airport has today celebrated St Andrew's Day by proudly unveiling a giant Thistle Sculpture created by Sculptor Kev Paxton

Edinburgh Airport has today celebrated St Andrew’s Day by proudly unveiling a giant thistles sculpture which will welcome passengers into and out of Scotland.

Standing at 4.5 metres tall and weighing in at 600kg, the thistles were created by Kev Paxton and his team at ArtFe – a small local business on the outskirts of Edinburgh that won the opportunity to display a striking sculpture in one of Edinburgh’s most public places.

300 individual parts make up each thistle head and 400 hours of labour went into the completed structure.  The sculpture consists of two thistles entwined together and are designed to move slightly in the wind, giving the impression they are dancing.

Edinburgh Airport Chief Executive Gordon Dewar said:

“The thistle is Scotland’s national flower so it is perfect that we unveil artist Kev Paxton’s fantastic steel structure on the same day that Scots from across the globe celebrate the patron saint of Scotland.

“Edinburgh Airport is where Scotland meets the world and I’m sure the dancing thistles will catch the eye – and the imagination – of everyone coming in and out of the airport.”

Artist Kev Paxton said:

“Too many bad things happen in our world, too many tragedies. People need reasons to be happy and smile more. Being from Edinburgh, it will be great if I can make people’s first or lasting impression of my home city a smile by installing iconic Scottish thistles dancing in the rain.”

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