Dino Day set for roaring return to Hull city centre

Dino Day 1: Steve Plater, owner of Dinostar, with a genuine Triceratops leg bone which will be one of his exhibits at Dino Day.

The free dinosaur-themed activities in Queen Victoria Square and King Edward Street will see a parade of prehistoric favourites including a Raptor, Parasaurolophus and Dilophosaurus.

Other free attractions at Dino Day on Friday 8 August will include face painting, a colouring competition with dinosaur prizes, a dino detective trail with the challenge of tracking down dinosaur pictures in shops and other businesses in the city centre.

A variety of local businesses and other organisations have stepped up to support the event, with KCOM the headline sponsor, the Hull KR Foundation displaying the Challenge Cup and an array of stalls and rides adding to the fun.

In addition, Dino Day will provide countless opportunities to snap images for HullBID’s “Picture Hull” challenge, with participants able to submit their shots of crowd-pulling events and day-to-day life in the city centre until Sunday August 31.

Neil, Bartholomew, KCOM Consumer Managing Director, said: “We love supporting fantastic community events like this and turning the city centre into Hull’s answer to Jurassic Park once again, keeping the kids entertained during the summer holidays, is a great idea by HullBID.

“I’m sure the day will be a dino-mite success and I hope everyone attending has a roar-some time!”

Dino Day has proved a huge hit with families since it was introduced by HullBID in 2021 and will feature several new ideas in its fifth year with activities taking place from 11am until 3pm. For details visit https://hullbidevents.co.uk/dinoday-2025/

Kathryn Shillito, HullBID Executive Director, said: “Dino Day was a phenomenal success from the start and it was an easy decision to bring it back for a fifth year. It’s fun and a bit frightening and people love that!

“In addition to some truly terrifying creatures parading round the streets of the city centre we’ve got all sorts of fun games and competitions. Almost everything is free, with some modest charges for some of the stalls and rides.

“We’re really grateful to KCOM as headline sponsor and to all the businesses which are taking part this year. We’ve got a bigger turnout than ever and that’s important because HullBID’s events are all about attracting people into the city centre to support our local businesses, and this shows we’re making an impact.

“At the same time we’re working hard to keep Dino Day fresh and innovative so this year we’ll be introducing the Dino Detectives trail to encourage people to explore businesses in their search for clues, helped by the virtual dino park which can be viewed on smartphones.”

Regular exhibitors making a return to Dino Day include Forbidden Planet, Dinsdales joke shop, Lost City Golf, Superbowl UK and the Dinostar museum.

Steve Plater, owner of Dinostar in Humber Street, will be setting up a mini-museum display in Queen Victoria Square with exhibits including a genuine Triceratops leg bone and dinosaur teeth, claws, and even an egg. Visitors will be welcome to touch the exhibits and experience handling dinosaur fossils 100 million years old!

Steve said: “Dino Day is a wonderful, family-friendly event that has now become a major part of the city’s summer calendar.  Hundreds of people have visited our mini-museum and many have gone on to visit our Dinosaur Experience on Humber Street.

“Other businesses in the city centre benefit in the same way because families often make it a full dinosaur day – businesses in the city centre get a boost in footfall from the crowds that dinosaurs attract.”

The “Picture Hull” challenge is being delivered by HullBID in collaboration with the University of Hull Business School. It is inspired by the recognition in the Sunday Times earlier this year that the HU1 postcode is one of the coolest places to live in the UK but you don’t need to be a top newspaper photographer to take part. The competition is for everyone, from experienced photographers to novices with smartphones.

Judging of images for inclusion in an exhibition will take place at the beginning of September, all entries will be displayed in an online gallery and the best will go on display in Trinity Market from Monday September 15 until Sunday October 5.

Commemorative certificates will be awarded to anyone who submits images from all 10 locations in the Picture Hull trail which embraces the Fruit Market and The Deep, the Museums Quarter and Hepworth’s Arcade, Land of Green Ginger and Whitefriargate, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull Marina, Ferensway (St Stephens, Hull Truck Theatre, Prospect Centre), Princes Quay and Princes Dock Street, Paragon Arcade, Albion Street and Kingston Square, and King Edward Street and Queen Victoria Square.

Kathryn said: “Our city centre has so much visual appeal with magnificent historic and modern buildings and some fantastic events, with Dino Day just one spectacular example, and Picture Hull is open to all with the aim of encouraging people to head into the city centre, explore the different areas and make repeat visits in search of that special, winning image.”

To enter the competition visit https://hullbidevents.co.uk/picture-hull/