Dino Day ready to make roaring return to Hull city centre

A family-run food store is giving crowds the chance to bite back when Dino Day returns to Hull next week, and a big brand cosmetics retailer is promising customers a blast by offering the chance to make their own dinosaur bath bombs.

In addition families can look forward to a dockside Dino Disco, a dinosaur egg hunt and a delve into the world of dinosaurs with the team from Hull’s own Dinostar Museum.

Kathryn Shillito, HullBID Executive Director, said: “Dino Day has quickly become established as one of our biggest and most successful events of the year and this year promises to be better than ever.

“City centre traders have reported booming business from our two previous Dino Days and the result of that is we have even more taking part this year. In particular food and drink outlets know they’re in for a busy day and they’re stocking up well in advance!”

Thousands of parents and children are expected to descend on Hull city centre on Friday 9 August to see King Edward Street transformed from 10am until 4pm into a huge dinosaur pen. There will be 12 individual shows, each lasting half an hour, with the park rangers unleashing the roar-some combination of a T Rex, Velociraptor, Spinosaurus and Dilophosaurus.

Dinostar will be present with one of an array of dino-themed stalls and activities in the immediate area will include free face painting and a kiddie colouring competition to keep them entertained.

The Prospect Shopping Centre will join in the fun with a trail of dino eggs hidden across the various retail stores. There will also be a chance to meet their interactive Dino Baby for a special reward or have your photo taken with Dino Bob, the friendly dinosaur mascot who will be roaming the shopping centre. The Prospect Shopping Centre is also offering cut-price parking for £1 all day.

Stage @TheDock, only yards away from the Dinostar Museum in the Fruit Market, will be the venue for families to strut their Spinosaurus stuff at two Dino Discos taking place from 11am until 1pm and from 2pm until 4pm.

Brew Dog is offering a deal for diners to get their teeth into with kids able to eat free all day with every paying adult.

Emily Taylor, owner of Johnston’s butchers and deli in Carr Lane, Hull, said her team will be serving up a Dino Day package of tasty treats and fun fancy dress.

Emily said: “We’ll be making some Dino Day fairy buns so customers can take a big bite out of a dinosaur and we’re also planning to decorate the shop with dinosaur bunting and a dinosaur cake stand.

“We’ll be dressing up as well. Our overalls are green anyway so that helps and we’ll be wearing our dinosaur hats for the day.”

At Lush in King Edward Square store manager Ben Garne and his team have managed to get their hands on some exclusive bath bomb kits which aren’t normally available to sell in stores.

Ben said: “During the day we’ll host five sessions for nine people at a time to come in, make their special Dino Day bath bombs and take them home to use. It’s just £3.50 per person and it’s for people of all ages, although children might need an adult to help them.

“We have a few events where customers get the chance to make their own products and people are always asking about them, so we expect to be busy. The HullBID events generally attract a big crowd as well. For Superhero Day we calculated there was a big increase in business and Dino Day is usually even better.”

To book a slot just call in at Lush, email the store at Hull@Lush.co.uk or call on 01482 278223.

To find out more about Dino Day visit https://www.hullbid.co.uk/

Dino Day events timetable

9.55am Welcome to Jurassic Earth

10am Meet our Baby Dinosaurs

10.30am Zeus T-Rex Show

11am Spinosaurus Show

11.30am Raptor Paddock Show

Midday Dilophosaurus and Baby Dinosaur Show

12.30pm Zeus T-Rex Show

1.pm Spinosaurus Show

1.30pm Raptor Paddock Show

2pm Zeus T-Rex Show

2.30pm Spinosaurus Show

3pm Raptor Paddock Show

3.30pm Dilophosaurus and Baby Dinosaur Show