Dinosaur Egg Hunt to hatch Jurassic Trail 2 beasts in Leeds

JUST when you thought it was safe to return to Leeds city centre....the dinosaurs are back!

And the plan hatched this weekend with the launch of a giant Dinosaur Eggs Hunt - a family-friendly interactive trail for half-term, ahead of Leeds Jurassic Trail 2.

Using an augmented reality smartphone app - get it here - dino fans can scan the eggs to reveal which full sized beasts will emerge, when the eggs are replaced by animatronic dinosaurs, this July and August.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE APP & FiND OUT MORE: Visit the official website at leedsjurassictrail.co.uk.

It is one of the country’s most ambitious city centre partnerships headed by LeedsBID – the business improvement district organisation – to encourage more visitors safely back into the city centre after the reopening of non-essential retail, eateries and bars, following an ease in the lockdown.

Leeds Jurassic Trail 2, following the overwhelming success of a similar event in 2019, will return with more teeth - a total of 13 moving, roaring dinosaurs, 11 new ones including flying Pteranodons and a huge Diplodocus alongside the ever popular T-Rex.

A world-first animatronic Yorkshiresaurus – the design inspired by a Wakefield pupil – will also go on display, with features including a white rose, a spine of Yorkshire Ys and a rhubarb tail, among other elements from God’s Own Country.

First up The Dinosaur Egg Hunt, which is also a free trail, with locations around the city centre until Sunday, June 13.

Dinosaur Egg Hunt hatchers monster summer fun in LeedsDinosaur Egg Hunt hatchers monster summer fun in Leeds
Dinosaur Egg Hunt hatchers monster summer fun in Leeds

Egg and dinosaur locations include Briggate, Leeds Corn Exchange, Leeds Kirkgate Market, Leeds Rail Station, Merrion Centre, St Johns Centre, The Core, The Light, Trinity Kitchen, Trinity Leeds Victoria Leeds and Victoria Quarter.

Families are being urged to visit every location and check, using the augmented reality app, which dinosaur will be replacing the egg thi summer – perfect for selfies and family group shots.

The dinosaur that appears in the app on your smartphone screen can then be made bigger, smaller and even made to walk.

Scan each of the 13 dinosaur AR markers using the Leeds Jurassic Trail app to be entered into a prize draw, to win one of 25 dinosaur goodie bags. The deadline is Sunday, June 13, at 6pm. Full details and t&cs at ?????

Dinosaur Egg HuntDinosaur Egg Hunt
Dinosaur Egg Hunt

Leeds Dinosaur Egg Hut and the forthcoming Jurassic Trail 2 are led by LeedsBID in partnership with Child Friendly Leeds, Leeds City Council, Leeds Corn Exchange, Leeds Kirkgate Market, Leeds Station, Merrion Centre, St Johns Centre, The Core, The Light, Trinity Kitchen, Trinity Leeds and Victoria Leeds.

Andrew Cooper, chief executive of LeedsBID, said: “Our Dinosaur Egg Hunt is the ‘trailer’ for the main event this summer and in itself will be ground-breaking.

By taking part in the hunt visitors will be able to discover which dinosaur will be installed where as well as capturing some amazing images via the app on their phones.

“We promised Leeds Jurassic Trail would be back bigger and with more teeth. Thanks to our incredible partners, it’s already exceeded all expectations in size and scale with a dozen organisations all joining forces – so prepare for something special.

Dinosaur Egg Hunt comes to life with augmented reality appDinosaur Egg Hunt comes to life with augmented reality app
Dinosaur Egg Hunt comes to life with augmented reality app

“Together we are gearing up for the safe return of shoppers and visitors to the city and long-lasting attractions like this are essential in helping to entice people back in. The egg hunt provides an innovative family-friendly, free way of having something fun to do while avoiding the need to stay in the one place. That means we can safely attract people back into the city, encouraging them to move around and stimulate the economy across a number of sectors.”

The dinosaur trail experience and egg hunt is being created by award-winning Leeds-based events and marketing agency, Banana Kick. In 2019 for the inaugural event, more than 100,000 trail maps were handed out.

To find out more visit leedsjurassictrail.co.uk