Southport’s eagerly awaited Pleasureland Day of the Dead celebrations was hit by a dead-of-night theft over the weekend when the one of the huge sugar skull emblems featured on the park’s event posters ‘walked’.
The aluminium Day of the Dead Festival skull fell victim to opportunistic thieves who scaled the poster site to wrench the aluminium ‘sugar’ skull from its mount and head off into the dark of the early hours.
Pleasureland’s Day of the Dead family-friendly Festival, which will see fire spinners and eaters, live shows, street food, drummers a dance DJ and a huge fireworks display – with rides running through the evening of November 2nd – has issued an incentive for information leading to the skull’s return, in the form of an undisclosed reward.
Park owner Norman Wallis said: “Thieves had to scale the poster site. Once up there they used extreme force to wrench the artwork from its housing to make off with the skull emblem – we want our Autumn headline event’s skull back and we are keen to hear from anyone with information. This theft was also an act of vandalism – removing the icon wasn’t the work of minutes. It’s another example of a small minority thwarting the town’s push to look good and attract visitors, and it has a cost to it. The assault on the poster is the latest, but the park walls have suffered graffiti attacks. It’s another sign that we have to #standupforsouthport – we really hope someone saw the thieves in action and can offer a tip off.”
Day of the Dead event gates open at the park on November 2nd at 5pm, and rides have been reduced to £1.50p each for the night. Ticket are available online from www.southportpleasureland.com.
The park had posters in eye-catching purple and yellow. The yellow
version drew the attention of the thieves.
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