Way back in 2013, Nick Park’s Academy Award-winning character was unleashed on the streets of Bristol in the first Gromit trail. Over 10 years, 500 sculptures and £20 million raised for Bristol Children’s Hospital later, Gromit Unleashed is back in the city for 2025. The Grand Appeal will team up with the Bristol-based animation studio, Aardman for the first time since 2018 for Gromit Unleashed 3.
Building on the success of previous trails – Gromit Unleashed, Shaun in the City, and Gromit Unleashed 2 – where we’ve seen interactive sculptures, famous faces, big brands, and more, next year’s trail looks to only be bigger, better (and more crackin’) than ever. And we’ve just had our first taste of the nine-week public art trail.
What can we expect?
So far, we’ve only been given a sneak peek of three Gromit Unleashed three sculpture designs. As always, Gromit leads the way, designed like a disco ball. Then there’s Wallace in Roman armour (insert ‘Wallace & Gromit is my Roman Empire’ here), and Feathers McGraw with a Jack of Diamonds design.
Making his Gromit Unleashed debut is also Norbot, the new “smart gnome” who has a starring role in Wallace & Gromit’s latest adventure, although we’ve only seen a prototype so far. Each of these sculptures will be reimagined in movie-inspired designs, however, as they pop up all over the city – from iconic locations to hidden corners – in 2025.
When is the next Gromit Unleashed trail?
Off the back of Wallace & Gromit’s second-ever feature-length film ‘Vengeance Most Fowl’ this Christmas, Gromit Unleashed 3 will offer Bristolians a summer of sculpture-spotting fun from June 30 to August 31, 2025. If you can’t wait until then, we recommend popping down to Cabot Circus now for your Gromit fix at the Friary Building.
Can I get involved?
Just following the trail, you can support The Grand Appeal, which has generated around £90 million to support Bristol Children’s Hospital since 1995 – with these sculpture trails contributing £20 million of that. This has funded life-saving equipment, family accommodation, and pioneering research, and you can donate by heading here.
If you’re a local business that’d like to sponsor a sculpture, however, you can learn about the benefits of doing so here. Meanwhile, the Gromit Unleashed Schools Programme means that local schools can design their own sculpture, which you can learn more about here.