July 9th will go down in history as Huntingdon’s First DINO DAY!
BID Huntingdon are hugely proud to report that Saturday July 9th had the highest footfall in the recorded history of Huntingdon!
Record numbers of people attended the whole town event that saw T-Rex’s, Raptors and Baby Dinosaurs rampaging through the town from the market square and down the High Street!
Families travelled from far and wide for the event, bringing new faces and importantly new business to the town, allowing people to ‘Discover Huntingdon’ for the first time or for our fantastic local community to re-discover what our incredible town has to offer.
Dino Day encapsulated the entire town, seeing queues of people joining in the Dino Hunt sticker competition that included support from The Commemoration Hall, Bon Marche, West End DIY, Cash Convertors, The Tattoo Den and Don’t Panic Pizza who said “We couldn’t have asked for a better day. The organising team deserves a medal for the hard work involved. The day was a huge success for visitors and businesses alike, thousands of new faces and smiles all around. Broadcasting what our fabulous town has to offer not just in-terms of the event but the variety of small and large businesses our town hosts is paramount to the success of high streets. The delivery of the day was perfect, inducing all areas of the town, not just the market square. The town was bursting with happy faces, as it should be.” the Hunt finished at Cambs Lock that included a Dino selfie station that had a very happy queue around the block waiting in line!
St Benedict’s Court showcased some great stalls from Patches and The Attic (Diamond Hampers Charity) that saw Dino themed arts and craft events, alongside a balloon modeller and a fossil display and interactive table to educate children. Shopmobility also had a charity stall in Princes Street Car Park highlighting how accessible Huntingdon is and raised some much needed funds for the charity.
Chequers Court saw BID Bear donning a caveman outfit for selfies and giving out over 2,000 presents to local children! The information booth from BID raised over £400 for The Commemoration Hall charity through a prize-every-time Dino game and an amazing cake made by Jo our Town Ranger! Down in front of Sainsbury’s car park saw MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) displaying artefacts from the A14 development. Generations Dance Academy flash mobbed the town throughout the day with an entertaining selection of Dino-Themed dances including “Everyone Walk the Dinosaur” to huge applause.
The Market Square was the ROAAARSOME Main Event, Raptors on the loose! Ranger Training and a giant T-Rex that almost had the Mayor David Landon Cole for lunch! Mayor Cole said “Dino Day is the busiest I’ve ever seen Huntingdon, and it was wonderful that so many people of all ages were in town, discovering Huntingdon for the first time, or discovering shops they didn’t know about before. Now more people know more about what Huntingdon has to offer, I hope that they’ll keep coming back to our amazing town. My thanks to all the BID team for this amazing day – RAWR!”
All Saints Church had a hugely popular Dino Dig where children of all ages could dust for Dino bones and discover what it’s like to be an archaeologist! And The Cromwell Museum even joined in the fun with some 17th Century games and activities!
Businesses throughout the town have spoken of record number of customers and sales throughout the day! Paula Carr from Cambs Lock said “Our community really came out for dinosaur day. It was wonderful to see so many new faces. Many finding Cambs lock for the first time. We look forward to them re-visiting us and all of the other small businesses that are based in our town” Clarks’ Manager Sue Madle reports a 41% increase in custom on Saturday saying “It was a really good atmosphere, buzzing, we did really well all day with great feedback from customers” The Works Manager reports “What a brilliant day! Everyone was really happy and we sold out of our dinosaur balloons by 11.30am!”
BID Town Manager Paul Sweeney said “What an absolutely amazing day! Far outreached our wildest dreams in terms of the number of people involved. All enjoying our brilliant town! Smiling faces and a buzz of excitement all around really showcased what this town can deliver, I feel it’s the start of a new era here in Huntingdon and one I am very proud to be a part of”