A beloved children's book character is coming to Macclesfield.

Macclesfield Town Council has announced that Elmer's Christmas Art Parade will take over the town this festive season.

Using David McKee's popular character Elmer the Patchwork Elephant, the parade is Macclesfield's first-ever public art sculpture trail.

Councillor Fiona Wilson, town centre champion and chair of the Town Centre Regeneration Working Group, said: "It is great to see this nationally renowned trail come to Macclesfield, the elephants are truly amazing!

"If you ever needed a reason to come into the town centre this is it.

"We encourage everyone to take part in the trail and the other events running alongside it, visit our local shops and businesses and bring your friends and family this Christmas. 

"Let's put Macclesfield on the map!" 

Poster for Elmer's Art Parade (Credit: MTC)

Elmer's Christmas Art parade will officially launch on Saturday, November 22, and will be in place for nine weeks until mid-January.

A dozen decorated elephants will be spread across the town centre, taking over the likes of the Grosvenor Centre, Macclesfield Library, the Silk Museum and Mill Street.

Trail maps will be available to download here and paper copies available at the Visitor Information Centre inside the library, as well as shops displaying a window sticker.

Families who complete the trail will receive a badge recognising their accomplishment.

There will also be several other activities happening in Macclesfield to support the trail, including pottery painting at Periwinkle & Clay and Elmer photo opportunities at White Blossom.

Meanwhile, the Silk Museum have created Elmer's cosy corner where younger children can go and read a selection of the Elmer books and complete activity sheets.

The library will be having reading sessions based on Elmer and there will also be guided art walks around the trail, focussing specifically on the artists who have been used as inspiration for the decorations.

Looking ahead to 2026, there will be Elmer-themed workshops for the lantern parade taking place later in January.