Giant LED Statues Not Rising Up As Planned, Just Yet, But Irish Firm Has A Two-Metre Demo Ready

September 9, 2022 by Dave Haynes

That Irish company that hopes to have giant LED statues go up as attractions around the planet doesn’t seem to be rolling out at its publicized pace, but will show a reduced-size version of its concept at a UK theme park trade show in a couple of weeks.

A two-metre preview of what’s called The Giant will be demo’d at IAAPA Expo in London Sept. 13-15. IAAPA is touted as the biggest event for theme parks and attractions in Europe.

The Giant Company, based in Dublin, had said early last year that it hoped to put 21 giant LED-driven statues in 21 cities around the world by the end of 2021. That obviously didn’t happen, but timelines have a way of stretching out when the concept is new and untested, and financial backers have to be found.

The concept is that this standalone attraction will attract people to see giant versions of famous people, with supporting content, on 10-storey-tall statues lined with LED lights tight enough in pitch to drive full-color visuals. “Every hour, The Giant talks about a famous person and then transforms into that person.”

I don’t see myself paying money to gaze at a huge Lady Gaga or Harry Styles, but I am steadily amazed by what gets people excited and willing to part with money. However, I could see iconic footballing venues like Old Trafford in Manchester and Camp Nou in Barcelona honoring club legends with something like this … and charging money for it in some way (like selfies). Right now they do things like bronze statues and big printed material on the sides of venues. This would elevate that.

The website for The Giant Company has a lot of information on it, but not much evidence there are firm plans for one to go up, never mind 21. But setting up at a trade show geared to the theme parks and attractions business makes sense, even if a two-metre tall version has a bit of a Spinal Tap/Stonehenge vibe.