Paper bird sculptures free to fly at the Book Festival

Tipped of by a series of curious tweets, crowds gathered in the Book Festival Book Shop in Charlotte Square at 2.30pm just as a 30 mysterious blue bags were carried in.

Much to the delight of everyone, the bags revealed a series of bird cages containing paper birds with the instructions to set them free. Each bird had a handwritten label providing different instructions as to where to set it free, such as 'somewhere far away’.

A Book Festival spokesperson said ‘The sculptures are wonderful things and we are thrilled that so many of our visitors and customers of all ages were able to take these beautiful birds away, to enjoy them and to set them free around Scotland and further afield.’

A heron, an egret and a crow to commemorate Iain Banks’ The Crow Road were specifically gifted to the Book Festival and these will remain on show to the public in until the end of the Festival. They can be found in the Signing Tent in Charlotte Square Gardens.