Edinburgh Oor Wullie Big Bucket Trail: dates, map and locations

Have you seen statues of beloved Scottish character Oor Wullie dotted around and you’re not sure why?
Have you seen Oor Wullie statues around the city? (Photo: Oor Wullie Big Bucket Trail)Have you seen Oor Wullie statues around the city? (Photo: Oor Wullie Big Bucket Trail)
Have you seen Oor Wullie statues around the city? (Photo: Oor Wullie Big Bucket Trail)

It means you’ve stumbled across the Oor Wullie Big Bucket Trail.

For 11 weeks (from 17 June until 30 August), Scotland showcases its first ever national public art trail across five cities.

What is the Oor Wullie Big Bucket Trail?

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The Oor Wullie Big Bucket Trail is a national public art trail that is designed to raise awareness and funds for Scotland’s children’s hospital charities.

Over 200 specially designed Oor Wullie statues have been placed across Scotland, showcasing our diverse culture through the help of the 100 artists who worked to make every sculpture unique.

At the end of their seven week run, the statues will then be available for auction in order to raise money for Scotland’s children’s hospital charities.

The trail builds on the success of the Dundee Oor Wullie Trail which took place in 2016 and raised almost £900,000 for the city.

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On top of the 200 full sized Oor Wullie sculptures, a further 350 ‘wee’ sculptures that have been decorated by local schools and community groups are also available to view at libraries, art galleries and shopping centres.

Charities involved

The charities that the trail will go towards are:

- Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity

- Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity

- The Archie Foundation

The money from the trail will go on to fund vital projects and services in these hospitals including:

- A drop in centre where families can have access to creative activities, complementary therapies and someone to talk to at the Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity

- Paediatric research at Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity which will lead the way to better treatment for children now and for generations to come

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- Allowing the Archie Foundation to care for and support families of sick children through family facilities, accommodation and emergency grants

Where to find them in Edinburgh?

If you’re heading out to search for Oor Wullie this weekend, you’ll be able to find a whopping 60 sculptures dotted around the city.

You can go to the Oor Wullie Big Bucket Trail website to find maps of all the locations of the sculptures.

Here are some to get you started:

Oor Sherlock Holmes: A collaboration between Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin and Edinburgh artist Chris Rutterford, this sculpture pays tribute to one of Edinburgh’s most celebrated writers, Arthur Conan Doyle. Found at the Old College, University of Edinburgh

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Oor Proclaimers No.1 and No.2: Two sculptures designed by Art and Design teacher at Fife High School Vanessa Gibson, this sculpture shines a light on the iconic Scottish duo The Proclaimers. Look closely and you might see some song lyrics. Found at Ocean Terminal, Leith.

LGBT+: With June being pride month, this rainbow striped sculpture shows off the diversity of Edinburgh. “Art is all about inclusivity,” the description of this sculpture reads. Designed by Rob Hain, the description continues: “Oor Wullie, an iconic character, champions the LGBT movement and gives support and love to everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation.” Found at St Andrew Square.

Help Ma Bees! This Oor Wullie will be hard to miss with its bright yellow paint job, with details of honeycomb and bees incorporated into the design. With the population of bees in decline due to climate change, this sculpture calls for the public to help the bees. Designed by Nicola Boon, this Oor Wullie can be found at Castle Terrace East.

Oor Multicultural Wullie: This sculpture see’s Oor Wullie covered in a multitude of different flags. Scotland is melting pot of different ethnicities and is somewhere that welcomes that diversity, which is exactly what this sculpture champions. Designed by Lesley D Welsh, you’ll be able to find this sculpture can appropriately be found out at Edinburgh Airport.

Where else can I find them?

The five cities that the big bucket trail runs through is:

- Edinburgh

- Glasgow

- Aberdeen

- Dundee

- Inverness

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According to Visit Scotland Wullie is also makes an appearance “in key locations across Perth and Stirling too”, so if you’re tracking down the sculptures you should factor that into your plans.

You can find detailed maps on how to find all the Oor Wullie sculptures on the official Oor Wullie Big Bucket Trail website.

You can also download their app to help you find all the hidden sculptures.

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