Giant dinosaurs and eggs set to take over Leeds city centre this summer in ambitious virtual reality event

Giant dinosaur eggs are being laid across Leeds in 12 locations to create a family-friendly interactive event to herald the forthcoming Leeds Jurassic Trail 2, taking place later this year.

The free Dinosaur Egg Hunt, featuring an augmented reality app, will run from today (Saturday) to June 13 when it will be revealed which full size beasts will be located where across the city in the UK’s biggest free animatronic dinosaur display this July and August.

Following the success of a previous inaugural event, Leeds Jurassic Trail 2 will boast 13 moving and roaring dinosaurs – featuring 11 new ones including flying Pteranodons and a huge Diplodocus alongside the popular T-Rex.

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

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 Gate and Victoria Quarter.

The type of dinosaur that will be in each location later this summer will be revealed from today to those taking part in the giant Dinosaur Egg Hunt. Visitors can download a free augmented reality app to find the full size dino eggs – some as tall as two metes – laid across Leeds city centre. People just need to visit every location and check in using the app where the dinosaur that will be inhabiting that venue will be revealed on their screen.

Leeds Jurassic Trail 2 and the egg hunt are being 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.

“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 Leeds-based events and marketing agency, Banana Kick.