Life-size dinosaurs to take over Black Mountain Peninsula this January

Lawrence Taylor has been fascinated with the prehistoric since growing up in the UK and uncovering fossils during family holidays along the Jurassic Coast. But it took driving through a fern-laced valley in New Zealand’s South Island in 2016 to give him the epiphany.

“It just kind of looked like the place where if you turned a corner, you’d meet a T-Rex coming along,” he says.

“It just kind of fired up my imagination.”

Lawrence has since founded ‘DinoFest’, described as the “ultimate outdoor dinosaur event”, and after touring New Zealand and several cities in Australia, it’s coming to Black Mountain Peninsula in Canberra for four weeks this January.

‘DinoFest Canberra – Age of the Tyrannosaur’ promises to “tell the story of how Tyrannosaurs grew from small dog-sized dinosaurs to become the world’s most fearsome predators over the course of 100 million years”.

So yes, arguably the coolest of the dinosaurs is the main star, and that’s no accident.

“When we started with DinoFest in New Zealand, we focussed on dinosaurs in Gondwana, which is the prehistoric continent Australia and New Zealand were part of, but the reality is dinosaurs like Triceratops and Stegosaurus and T-Rex are from North America,” Lawrence explains.

“And that’s challenging because those are the dinosaurs everyone wants to see.”

DinoFest will also showcase a range of other popular dinosaurs that attendees will be able to touch, pat and interact with. This includes a 45-minute ‘Dinosaur Encounter’ and a ‘Dinosaur Trail’ that includes a route dotted with more than 30 life-size dinosaurs.

There will also be “a range of educational and highly engaging kids’ activities,” such as a “Dino Dig,” themed arts and crafts, and a “feel-a-fossil” experience with real dinosaur bones.

“It’s designed to be exciting and educational, not scary,” Lawrence adds.

So far, the festival has visited Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and it will be here for four weeks from 11 January.

“We deliberately chose Black Mountain Peninsula because it includes a beautiful flat lawn area that suits our walking dinosaurs to a tee and the variety of mature trees work to transport DinoFest visitors back in time,” Lawrence says.

“And we’d kind of done New Zealand, and Australia has been really successful – it’s a beautiful country, and a lot bigger.”

Canberra’s event runs daily from 11 January to 2 February, after which it will decamp to Melbourne.

Up to nine people have been hired locally to help put on the show, which Lawrence describes as “a blend of local talent and then experienced people who help us deliver”.

“At the moment, we’re really focused on Australia, and getting it to a good level here. And we’ve got tens of thousands of people coming along to each event with really high customer satisfaction scores, so we’ll continue to reinvest. Right now, Australia is perfect.”

While it doesn’t have any official connections to Australia’s dinosaur museums, Lawrence says DinoFest helps “generate the enthusiasm” for families to also go and visit these places.

“What tends to happen is people come to DinoFest, and they get really excited and enthusiastic, and rather than let that lapse, we want to inspire our guests to do something like go to the library and take out a book on dinosaurs, or visit the local dinosaur museum,” he says.

“Dinosaurs are a great gateway to learning and education in science for children.”

DinoFest will be held at Black Mountain Peninsula from 11 January to 2 February. There are three 90-minute sessions daily, from 10:30 am, 1 pm and 3 pm. Entry costs $26 per adult, $24 per child and is free for children younger than two. Family tickets are also available. Visit DinoFest for more information.