The Big Egg Hunt

The Big Egg Hunt, also known as the Faberge Big Egg Hunt, was a 2012 charity fundraising campaign in aid of Action for Children and Elephant Family and sponsored by the jeweller Faberge. The two charities backed the largest-ever Easter egg hunt, known as The Big Egg Hunt, in London in the spring of 2012. Around 200 artists, celebrities and designers created and painted metre-high fibreglass eggs which were then placed in selected locations in London. Londoners had forty days from 21 February 2012 to locate the various giant eggs around the capital.Sinmaz, Emine, Evening Standard, Wednesday 18 January 2012]

Background The event followed the Elephant Parade of 2010, organized by Mark Shand and Ruth Powys of Elephant Family, which saw 260 decorated fibreglass elephants installed throughout London. Elephant Parade raised around £4m for elephant-related charities through sponsorship and by selling the individual works of art at auction.Jury, Louise, Evening Standard 22 November 2011 Retrieved January 2012 The top price paid for a decorated elephant was £155,000 for Jack Vettriano's The Singing Butler Rides Again.Allen, Felix, Evening Standard, 1 July 2010 Retrieved February 2012 Elephant Parade was itself inspired by CowParade, which had its beginnings in Switzerland in 1998 but has since spread around the world.

Launch

The Big Egg Hunt was first launched in November 2011 by food writer Tom Parker Bowles, who created a special "Eggs Faberge" breakfast for the celebrities in attendance. The metre-high eggs were then distributed to various artists and designers. Among the artists contributing designs were Sir Peter Blake, Polly Morgan, the Chapman Brothers, Vivienne Westwood, Giles Deacon, Zandra Rhodes, Diane von Fürstenberg, Sophie Dahl, Martin Aveling, cartoonist Alex Williams, artist and banker Shivani Mathur and film director Sir Ridley Scott.www.itsnicethat.com Retrieved February 2012www.forbes.com Retrieved February 2012

On 21 February 2012, the Big Egg hunt went "live," with over 200 eggs distributed throughout London in what was billed as the world's largest-ever Easter egg hunt. Each egg displayed a unique code which allowed participants in the egg hunt the opportunity to win a so-called Diamond Jubilee egg, crafted by Faberge and worth over £100,000.The Times, Tuesday 21 February 2012

Missing and Rejected eggs On 25 February, it was reported that two of the eggs had gone missing, presumed to have been stolen. The event organisers appealed for their safe return.Eggs Missing Retrieved February 2012 The two missing eggs were the "Egg Letter Box" created by Benjamin Shine, located on Carnaby Street, and "Hatch" created by artist Natasha Law.www.bbc.co.uk 25 February 2012 Retrieved February 2012 Law's egg was recovered by police a few hours later, but had been damaged and needed repairs.UK Press Association 26 February 2012 Retrieved February 2012 Following the theft, Elephant Family founder Mark Shand was reported as saying that the other eggs had been secured and were now "unstealable."www.thisislondon.co.uk Retrieved February 2012 On 28 February, it was reported in the Evening Standard that the "Egg Letter Box" had also been recovered by police.Evening Standard, 28 February 2012

One egg, the "sub-terra" egg designed by theme park Alton Towers to promote its "Nemesis" ride, was rejected by a number of locations for being too scary.www.london24.com Retrieved March 2012

Charity auction Around 30 of the eggs were auctioned on 20 March in front of a celebrity audience at the Royal Courts of Justice, where a total of £667,000 was raised for the two charities. Marc Quinn’s egg sold for £40,000 and that of architect Zaha Hadid raised £45,000. A chocolate egg set a record for the world's most expensive chocolate egg.Evening Standard 21 March 2012 Retrieved 22 March 2012

The remaining eggs were auctioned online, with bids closing at 5pm on Monday 9 April 2012.Big Egg Hunt Auction Retrieved February 2012 From 3 to 9 April, all the eggs were displayed together, in Covent Garden, for the first and last time.

World record On Easter Sunday, Guinness World Records announced that a new title had been achieved for the most participants in an Easter egg hunt, with more than 12,000 people taking part in the charity fundraiser.www.guinnessworldrecords.com Retrieved February 2012ITV news 8 April 2012 Retrieved April 2012

The Big Egg Hunt

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