A giant animatronic dinosaur trail through Leeds city centre has been pushed back because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Featuring a host of dinos, of all shapes and sizes, Leeds Jurassic Trail 2 was supposed to be happening this summer but organisers have decided to postpone the family fun until next summer.
Andrew Cooper,LeedsBID’s chief executive, said: “Our plans for the next Leeds Jurassic Trail are massive – literally. While it’s disappointing we can’t bring it this year, it’s the right thing to do given the current Covid-19 situation. LeedsBID and our visionary partners aren’t in the business of doing things by half, which is why we are waiting until next year when it will be well worth the wait.
“The ingenuity and creativity displayed in these entries was really something. What came across in every entry was children’s pride and passion for Yorkshire, something we all share, so choosing a winner was in itself a challenge.
“These are without doubt challenging times, but we aren’t standing still – instead we’re looking to the future. Together we will not only help the city centre recover, but thrive and grow. We have always said this needs to be a summer holiday attraction, so visitors and businesses can rest assured it will be big.”
Leeds Jurassic Trail 2 is led by LeedsBID in partnership with several leading shopping centres including Trinity Leeds, Victoria Leeds, Merrion Centre and Leeds Kirkgate Market alongside St John’s, The Core, The Light and backed by Child Friendly Leeds.
We’ll bring you more on the trail when we have details.
As part of the sequel to last year’s successful trail, organisers invited children from across the county to create the first ever Yorkshiresaurus with the winning entry used to inspire the final full-size version of the new animatronic beast.
The winner was 13-year-old Keera Turner. The design included the famous white rose of Yorkshire on its head, giant Ys down its spine and even showed it chewing on some Yorkshire tea leaves.
The entry will now be interpreted by designers to make the real thing as part of the return of the UK’s biggest city centre animatronic dinosaur trail next summer
Keera, said: “I love drawing and I want to be a palaeontologist so having the chance to design a dinosaur with all the best parts of Yorkshire on it was great. I can’t believe I've won.”
