Morris dancers in flat-footed display

A thousand life-sized cardboard cutouts of morris dancers will appear on the streets of London next Tuesday before a three-day event celebrating the maligned folk art.

The cutouts, by graphic artist David Owen, will arrive ahead of the main event at Southbank venues from September 3 to 5.

It will include performances by dancers and all-star folk band The Imagined Village in Queen Elizabeth Hall on September 5. The event was inspired by Lord Coe's quip that he would invite "5,000 morris dancers" to the London 2012 Olympics opening.