How to turn transparent umbrellas into a school of giant jellyfish

A dramatic pageant along the River Clyde in central P.E.I. at the end of this month will celebrate the marine environment with the help of some amateur puppeteers.

The River Clyde Pageant is getting the community involved by having them create their own jellyfish puppets to be part of the show.

"The River Clyde pageant is an outdoor travelling spectacle that moves along the River Clyde in New Glasgow," said co-organizer Megan Stewart.

"It's kind of focused on community memory, imagination, and also some of the environmental issues connected to the River Clyde."

Glowing jelly fish

The jellyfish in the pageant are crafted with transparent umbrellas, streams of plastic, and the help of professional puppeteer Jamie Shannon.

Shannon said a flashlight is one of the key features of the puppets.

"People can take their umbrellas into the darkness and they will glow so it looks like the organs, the spleen and the gall bladder of a jellyfish," he said.

The pageant has held workshops to create the 25 jellyfish needed for the pageant, attracting puppeteers of all ages, including Persephone Wapiennik.

"I had so much funmaking this big jellyfish," she said.

"It took a little while."

There are still some workshops scheduled to create the puppets. The pageant itself will run July 30 and 31.

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