AN ARMY of giant hares, well over half the height of a fully-grown man and each decorated with immense imagination, is lined up with military precision for public viewing in a hotel room in Cirencester this week.

The husk (other collective nouns for this group of mammals include drove and warren) of more than 90 hares is together for the first time in an elegant room in the newly-renovated Kings Head Hotel in Cirencester’s Market Place as the penultimate event of the remarkable Cirencester March Hare Festival.

Each of the hares has been sponsored by an individual, group or business in Cirencester and surrounding district and has been designed, painted and decorated by individual artists from around Gloucestershire.

Celebrities who have sponsored hares include Dynasty star Emma Samms, best-selling author Katie Fforde and designer Laurence Llewelyn Bowen.

Cotswold people, places, companies and events depicted by the artists include Cirencester benefactor Daniel George Bingham, the Roman hare mosaic, Cirencester town centre, motor dealers, estate agents gift shops, schools, the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester College and the Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard.

The First World War centenary is the theme of one hare while another is a collage of images of the honey-coloured houses and cottages that have been offered for sale around the Cotswolds during 2014. Others are simply delightful works of art.

Throughout the summer the hares have been scattered at locations around the town and beyond and tourists and local families have been attracted in droves to follow the hare trail, logging each of their finds in a special passport as they have been discovered.

A remarkable 20,000 visitors have been recorded at the numerous hare spots on the hare trail.

The Cirencester Hare Festival was the brainchild of one Cirencester woman, Florence Beetlestone, who has also been the driving force behind the success of the project.

“I thought it would work but you never know with these things and there were some worrying moments before the concept was embraced and supported by a host of people who care about the town,” Florence said at the preview of the collection last Thursday.

“There are so many people to thank for its success, our patrons, our partners, the sponsors – without whom we couldn’t have managed it – and all the fantastic artists, who really are second to none, and to the public, who have really got behind it.

“It is fantastic that the schools have got behind it and in the end, for me, it was seeing the excited faces of the children following the trail that made the whole project worthwhile.”

Festival patron Earl Bathurst, who had his first sight of the whole collection on Thursday, said it took his breath away.

“I am absolutely staggered, to be honest,” he told the Standard. “I had not appreciated how much artistic talent there was in the district. It is fantastic.”

The collection is on display at the Kings Head until Friday, October 3, after which it will be transferred to the Bingham Hall for the grand auction on Friday, October 24. Children are admitted free, a donation of £1 is suggested for adults.

Tickets for the auction are available from Cirencester Town Council offices in Dyer Street and estate agents Moore Allen & Innocent.

Proceeds from the festival will be divided between Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and the development of a new Churn River Walk.