”We're asking people to make angels, or displays featuring several angels, and to put them up all over Ripon,” said Mark Tanner, Holy Trinity's vicar. “There will be prizes for entries in lots of categories, like the best angel made from recycled materials, the best angel at least 10 feet off the ground, and the best angelic shop window. If you've ever been to a scarecrow festival, it'll be a bit like that—but on a bigger scale, and more heavenly!”

The idea is to get the community working together, to attract tourists to the city, and to help people to learn more about angels.

“People aren't quite sure if angels are real, or if they should feel silly for believing in angels,” said Revd Mark Tanner. “Well, angels most definitely are real, and they fulfil all kinds of purposes. They're God's messengers to his people on earth; they're heavenly warriors; and they watch over us. There can be confusion about angels, too: people often think, mistakenly, that we turn into angels when we get to heaven, but that's not true.”

With the support of Ripon Independent Traders' Association and Ripon Area Business Association, the church is also encouraging shops and businesses to get involved—promoting teamwork and an opportunity for publicity.

The response from early approaches to schools has been extremely positive, and over 7,000 invitations to participate are being distributed to children and young people in Ripon and the surrounding area. A team is also going in to schools delivering assemblies and lessons, and a set of PDF lesson plans and resources for teachers has been produced, available online, to use in topics as diverse as Maths, Literacy, Art, Dance and Drama, Music and SMSE.

The church hopes that publicity around the event will bring extra tourists to the city to see the displays, either by wandering the streets to see what they can find, coming into the church to see displays there, or by following one of the official trail maps.

After the Bishop of Knaresborough, the Rt Revd James Bell, has opened the festival on the Saturday, the church will be open for displays, refreshments and lunches until the final prize-giving, awarded by Ripon's own Alan Matthews, on Monday 5 May.