In pictures: Thousands from far and wide visit Lancaster for Dino Fest at the weekend

It’s certainly not every day you’ll meet a T-Rex on Penny Street or cross paths with a Raptor in Marketgate Shopping Centre or St Nic’s Arcade!

There were certainly a few surprised shoppers amongst the hoards of enchanted families!

Thousands of visitors came into the city from far and wide with people coming from as far afield as Doncaster, North Yorkshire, Lake District, Cheshire and Bolton to join in the

dinosaur themed fun.

This brought an economic boost to the city with 85% of visitors responding to the survey so far indicating they spent £10 or more in the city during their visit.

65% of responses had visited hospitality venues in the city centre whilst 47% had shopped with independent retailers.

Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalists from 2022, Dinomania were one of Saturday’s favourite attractions with their action-packed shows in Dalton Square, workshops at The Dukes and mobile museum in Lancaster Library with a fantastic range of over 150 real and replica fossils including a life size replica T-Rex skull outside in Market Square.

Sunday then saw the return of some Dino Fest regulars including Zeus the giant T-Rex and Emily Bronty the Brontosaurus.

Lancaster BID Operations Manager, Tom Fyson, said: ‘It was fantastic to see so many businesses across the city centre joining in with Dino Fest.

"Alongside the outdoor dinosaur shows, we had activities taking places in both shopping centres, Lancaster City Museum, Judges Lodgings, Lancaster Library and The Dukes. “All locations reported huge boosts in footfall with one of the museums reporting more than five-fold increase in visitor numbers compared to the previous weekend.”