Leeds Jurassic Trail

For a few weeks in each of three summers, the centre of Leeds was home to full-size, roaring dinosaurs. The Leeds Jurassic Trail was a free city-centre trail of animatronic dinosaurs, organised by LeedsBID and held in the summer holidays of 2019, 2021 and 2022. Visitors followed a map around shopping centres, a market, the railway station and a canal basin to find each creature. LeedsBID described it as the UK's biggest free city-centre event of its kind, which is the organiser's own claim rather than an independently checked fact. The last confirmed edition was held in 2022.

What Was the Leeds Jurassic Trail?

The Jurassic Trail Leeds format worked like a treasure hunt. Visitors picked up a free printed map, or used a digital map and an app, and searched for the dinosaurs in different parts of the city. In 2019 the printed trail included a passport that could be stamped at each location. The official FAQ listed places to collect a map, such as the Customer Information Point at Leeds City Station, Trinity Leeds' Guest Services Lounge, the Customer Service Desk at Victoria Gate and the Leeds Tourist Information Centre, and places where maps could be stamped.

The aim was to bring families into the city in the school holidays. The event also formed part of Child Friendly Leeds, an initiative to make Leeds a good city for children and young people to grow up in.

History of the Leeds Jurassic Trail

The trail ran in three editions, with a pause in 2020.

2019: The First Trail

LeedsBID presented the first trail as the UK's first city-centre animatronic dinosaur trail. It ran from 26 or 27 July to 1 September 2019, and local press and a car park operator give different start dates. Six dinosaurs were specially built for it, and the trail covered five sites. The line-up included:

• T-Rex: about 18m long, at Trinity Leeds.
• Apatosaurus: about 11m long, at Victoria Leeds, which joined the trail for the first time.
• Carnotaurus: at Leeds Kirkgate Market, in the market's event space.
• Triceratops: at the Merrion Centre.
• Caged raptor: about 2m tall, in the Trinity Kitchen food hall.
• Walking T-Rex: about 4m long, which visited St John's Centre and Leeds Corn Exchange and roamed the streets on event days.

The project was overseen by the Leeds events and marketing company Banana Kick. LeedsBID reported that 100,000 trail maps were produced and that about 70,000 people took part. By 24 August the Yorkshire Evening Post reported more than 75,000 people had picked up a map. Trinity Leeds' marketing manager said in 2019 that the centre had already given visitors "a taste" of dinosaurs the year before. The sources reviewed do not describe what that 2018 display was.

2020: Trail 2 Postponed Because of COVID-19

In June 2020, LeedsBID announced that the second trail would not go ahead that summer because of the COVID-19 restrictions and would return in 2021. During the pause it invited children across Yorkshire to design the first "Yorkshiresaurus". The winning idea, from a pupil in Wakefield, inspired the final model, which had a white rose, a spine made of Yorkshire "Y" shapes and a rhubarb tail.

2021: Dinosaur Egg Hunt and Leeds Jurassic Trail 2

The second trail was preceded by a free Dinosaur Egg Hunt during the May half-term, which ran until 13 June 2021. Giant eggs were placed around the centre, and visitors used an augmented-reality app to scan them and find out which dinosaurs would appear in the summer. Scanning all the markers entered people into a prize draw for 25 goodie bags. LeedsBID called the hunt the "trailer" for the main event.

Leeds Jurassic Trail 2 then ran from 24 July to 12 September 2021, a total of seven weeks, with 13 dinosaurs. Highlights were a diplodocus described as the length of two buses, a T-Rex taller than a house, a trio of flying pteranodons and the world's first Yorkshiresaurus. The locations were:

LeedsBID counted 13 dinosaurs, while published location lists group some of them (for example the baby stegosaurus and the raptor pair), so the table lists locations rather than a head count. Trinity Leeds also had a Jurassic Store, and paid T-Rex and triceratops rides were available. According to LeedsBID, the trail attracted more than 300,000 visitors and added £2.07 million to the Leeds economy.

Leeds Jurassic Trail 3 (2022)

The Leeds Jurassic Trail 3 ran from 30 July to 4 September 2022, and sources describe it as lasting either five or six weeks. It brought 12 new full-size, roaring and moving dinosaurs to the city centre. Children's television presenter Andy Day was the face and voice of the trail, giving facts about the creatures on digital displays around the centre.

LeedsBID's head of marketing, Martin Dickson, said the dinosaurs looked especially huge in an urban setting, and that because the trail was free, visitors could come into Leeds and also enjoy everything else the city offered.

Dinosaur Line-Up and Locations

Two of the smaller stars sat close together at Victoria Leeds. A 10m Amargasaurus named Victoria stood outside the John Lewis store, and a 2m baby triceratops named Tori sat on the central mosaic in Victoria Quarter. The Trinity Leeds T-Rex was the trail's best-known figure, described at launch as the height of a house.

The Spinosaurus in the Leeds and Liverpool Canal

The headline attraction of 2022 was the Spinosaurus at Granary Wharf, positioned with its feet in the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. LeedsBID believed it to be the first full-size animatronic dinosaur installed in a UK canal, which is the organiser's claim. The Canal & River Trust was a partner in the project, and the dinosaur was craned into place on 26 July 2022, ahead of the trail's opening.

Its size is reported in two ways. The launch announcement and the Yorkshire Evening Post gave 14.5m in length, about the length of a bus, while LeedsBID's own project page and some other articles gave 14 feet. A supplier's case study says LeedsBID kept the Spinosaurus at Granary Wharf after the trail as a monument to the event, and a stock photograph dated February 2023 appears to show it still there. None of the sources reviewed confirms whether it is in place today.

Events and Added Attractions

The 2022 trail came with a programme of extras around the city:

1. Floral volcano: an 8m high volcano with 5,000 tropical blooms at Trinity Leeds, which turned the centre into "Jurassic Island".
2. Giant dinosaur head: visitors could walk through it at the Merrion Centre, which also had a selfie spot and a stamp point.
3. Story times and a baby dino hatchery: hosted by John Lewis at Victoria Gate on selected weekends, including 30-31 July, 13-14 August and 27-29 August.
4. Live shows: free live Jurassic entertainment, including walkabout dinosaurs, on Briggate and Lands Lane every Saturday and Sunday.
5. Ranger training and activities: free Base Camp Ranger sessions at weekends and dinosaur activities at Leeds Kirkgate Market, including LEGO building.
6. Parking offer: Victoria Leeds offered all-day parking for £5 to families who collected five or more stamps.

Who Organised the Trail and Who Took Part

The trail was organised by LeedsBID, the business improvement district for Leeds city centre. According to the Yorkshire Post, it represents around 700 businesses in LS1 and part of LS2. The 2022 trail brought together 15 partners:

• Canal & River Trust
• Child Friendly Leeds
• Granary Wharf
• Leeds City Council
• Leeds Corn Exchange
• Leeds Kirkgate Market
• Leeds City Station
• Merrion Centre
• SOYO Leeds
• St Johns Centre
• The Core
• Trinity Kitchen
• Trinity Leeds
• Victoria Leeds
• John Lewis

Who built the dinosaurs is reported inconsistently. Banana Kick created the 2019 and 2021 trails. For 2022, one outlet credits Only Dinosaurs, while a separate supplier's case study describes its own role and a different line-up from the one LeedsBID published. For that reason this article follows LeedsBID's list and does not name a builder for 2022.

Visitor Numbers and Economic Impact

The 2022 figures measure different things, so they are not interchangeable: gross value added, direct impact, total impact and visitor spending are separate measures. LeedsBID's accounts for the year to 31 March 2023 summarise the trail as bringing in over half a million visitors and adding over £3 million to the Leeds economy in just over five weeks, citing 2022 research by NGI. A supplier's case study also reports that 97% of surveyed visitors rated the event excellent or good, and that the average group size rose from three to four. Those two figures come from a secondary source quoting LeedsBID.

Why LeedsBID Created the Trail

LeedsBID's stated purpose was to bring visitors into the city centre and support the businesses there. In 2019, its head of marketing described the aim as bringing businesses together and animating the centre with things that would not normally happen. In 2021, the Egg Hunt and trail were part of an effort to encourage people safely back into the centre after lockdown restrictions eased. In 2022, LeedsBID's chief executive, Andrew Cooper, said that installing a dinosaur in the canal was ambitious, and that the free event should generate footfall that supports the continued recovery of the city centre.

A Leeds dinosaur trail of this kind also guided visitors to parts of the city they might not normally visit, and each stop gave the host venue extra footfall.

What Happened to the Leeds Jurassic Trail?

The evidence points to the Leeds Jurassic Trail 2022 being the last edition. LeedsBID's accounts for the year to 31 March 2023 describe it as the "third and final instalment" of the trail. No edition in 2023 or later was found, and in February 2024 LeedsBID's own social media referred back to the trail as a "throwback" to 2022. The sources reviewed give no reason for the decision, so none is offered here.

The official website, leedsjurassictrail.co.uk, now shows a placeholder saying the domain may be for sale, and the Leeds Jurassic Trail page on Facebook still presents the 2022 trail, 30 July to 4 September 2022, as its introduction. The trail as a whole therefore appears to have ended, while some of its legacy, such as the Spinosaurus apparently photographed at Granary Wharf in early 2023, may have outlasted it.

Not to Be Confused with Other Dinosaur Events in Leeds

Other dinosaur events have taken place in Leeds, and they were not part of this trail. One example is Jurassic Take-Over Day, an interactive walk-through at the First Direct Arena that marked 30 years since the film Jurassic Park. It was originally planned for 12 April 2023 and was rearranged for 8 July 2023. It was a separate event, and the sources reviewed do not link it to LeedsBID or to the trail.

Conclusion

Across three editions, the Leeds Jurassic Trail grew from about 70,000 participants in 2019 to 509,090 visitors in 2022, according to LeedsBID, and was described in LeedsBID's accounts as the most popular trail yet. It was a way of drawing families into the centre and spreading their footfall across shopping centres, a market and the canal basin. The 2022 trail is the last edition confirmed by the available sources.

FAQ

Sources

https://www.facebook.com/leedsjurassictrail/

https://www.leedsbid.co.uk/project/leeds-jurassic-trail/