AN INFLATABLE 50FT WHALE, unwanted in London, finally washed ashore at Weston-super-Mare to help tell the biblical story of Jonah and the whale.The Bible Society organised the three day event as part of its ‘Pass it on’ campaign at the end of August with support by all-female circus troupe, Circo Rum Baba.
Organisers originally wanted the whale in a park near Tower Bridge but were turned down as religious events were banned. The same reason was given for Hyde and Greenwich Parks in London despite the fact that the Queen, who owns the Royal parks, is also patron of the Bible Society. Happily North Somerset Council saw it more positively. Rachel Rounds, Head of Media at Bible Society said: “The Royal Parks in London may have banned Bible Society from telling the story of Jonah, but Weston has saved the whale.
“Recent research for our ‘Pass It On’ Campaign showed that 59 per cent of children didn’t know the story of Jonah was from the Bible. So we want to encourage the next generation to engage with great Bible stories and what better way than from the inside of an inflatable whale, told by a circus troupe?”