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Brick Citys first visit to East Anglia set to draw in the crowds ...

A major Lego brick exhibition is set to draw in the crowds when it opens in Bury St Edmunds this weekend. (Jan 16)

Brick City, which features over 60 scale models including famous buildings, landmarks, street scenes and urban icons from five continents, is built entirely out of one of this year’s top Christmas presents, Lego bricks.

Featuring landmarks including The Olympic Stadium, Washington’s Lincoln Memorial, Rome’s Trevi Fountain and L’Arc de Triomphe in Paris, visitors will be able to view over 60 stunning Lego brick creations, including a spectacular 180,000brick scale replica of St Pancras International Railway Station.

There will also be Lego brick street scenes from the Rio Carnival in Brazil, a Thanks Giving Parade in New York, a Royal Wedding scene at Buckingham Palace, a Lego brick Mona Lisa, and even Lego brick penguins on a beach in Cape Town, South Africa.

The exhibition will open this weekend at Moyse’s Hall Museum in Bury St Edmunds, itself an iconic landmark building, and is expected to draw in visitors from across the region, as the display, which has attracted glowing reviews nationwide, visits East Anglia for the first time.

Said Councillor Joanna Rayner, St Edmundsbury Borough Council Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture: “Bury St Edmunds is blessed with some of the finest architecture in the country and to host this unique exhibition celebrating landmarks and buildings the world over in a such a fun and accessible manner, is a delight.

“I am sure that Lego has been popular in many homes this Christmas, as it has in my own, and the museum has done a wonderful job in not only securing the exhibition but also harnessing the appeal of Lego brick to help tell the town’s own story through architectural, historical and building themes.”

Brick City is the work of internationally renowned Lego artist Warren Elsmore, (warrenelsmore.com). It has so far visited around 10 locations in the UK since its launch in Autumn 2013, and received glowing reviews nationwide after being viewed by more than 500,000 people.

The exhibition represents the first time Moyse’s Hall has linked up with the Touring Exhibitions Group (TEG) (www.teg.org.uk), an independent network of galleries, museums, libraries, art and science centres which exchanges exhibitions as a means of sharing ideas, materials and resources.

Moyse’s Hall Museum was recently awarded £23,000 to upgrade facilities by Arts Council England and last year, was short-listed as Suffolk Museum of the Year in the Association of Suffolk Museums annual awards.

During the exhibition, which runs until April 24, the museum will also be providing exhibition tours, as well holding a series of themed workshops for schoolchildren and groups.

The museum has also linked up with Stowmarket-based company: Brickologists, Young Enginers, to a series of host Lego-based events and activities including the much anticipated: Great Bury Brick Off - a public lego building competitions.(February 13 & April 2), and Lego brick Fun Days at the Apex.

Moyses’s Hall, which features a range of architectural styles dating back to 12th century, will itself be recreated in Lego by Independent Lego Builder, Rhys Knight, from Farnham, Surrey. Mr Knight has also been commissioned to build a replica of the 14th Century, Abbey Gate.

St Edmundsbury Borough Council Heritage Operations Manager, Lance Alexander, said: “Through the museum’s recent affiliation with the Touring Exhibition Group, a significant grant to upgrade the facilities, a series of exhibitions and events already planned, we are looking forward to the coming year, starting with the Brick City Exhibition.

“With all of this wonderful architecture, landscape and culture on our doorstep, we hope people will enjoy the exhibition and surrounding activities, all designed to help further interpret and contextualise our own unique heritage nationally, and worldwide.”