Darlington town centre has already hosted princesses and storybook characters this summer. Its next visitors are considerably older, louder and more likely to roar.

A free Dinosaur Day is due to take place on Thursday 27 August, following the Legends and Fairytales event held a week earlier on 20 August. Both form part of the council’s summer programme, designed to give families a reason to spend time in the town centre during the school holidays.

Prehistoric play in the town centre

Dinosaur Day is scheduled to run from 11am until 3pm. The programme includes crafts, fossil digs and a live show, bringing a mixture of performance and hands-on activity rather than simply placing a costumed character in a square for photographs.

Fossil-themed play offers a neat route into science for younger visitors. A child may arrive because a moving dinosaur looks exciting and leave asking how fossils form, what lived in the North East millions of years ago or how palaeontologists work out the shape of an animal from incomplete remains.

The event is free, which matters during a long school break when even a series of modest admission charges can put days out beyond a family budget. Town-centre activity also lets visitors combine the event with libraries, shops, cafés or an ordinary errand.

Darlington Borough Council promoted the two themed days at the start of August. Because the fairytale event took place on 20 August, it has now passed; families planning a visit should focus on the dinosaur date on the 27th and check the council for any late changes.

Making the journey easier

The wider summer transport offer may help some families the town. During August, under-15s can travel free on participating local bus services, while fares for under-21s are capped at £1 for journeys within the Tees Valley and County Durham under the promoted scheme.

That connection between events and affordable transport is easy to underestimate. A free activity is not truly free to attend if the journey costs too much, and parking can add pressure for families travelling by car.

For town-centre businesses, a well-run family event can bring footfall at a time when shopping habits continue to change. Its success should not be measured only by a crowd around the main performance, but by whether visitors stay, explore and feel the centre offered them a good day.

There is no need to pretend that one afternoon will transform the high street. What it can provide is straightforward and worthwhile: a few hours of shared fun, an invitation to be curious and a town centre that feels like a place to gather.

Families travelling specifically for the event should still check the council’s page before setting out, particularly if weather affects outdoor activity. That small precaution keeps a cheerful free afternoon from becoming an avoidable wasted journey.

The four-hour programme should also allow families to drop in without needing to organise an entire day around it.

After the fairytale chapter, Darlington’s summer story is not finished. On Thursday, the clock is being wound back much further.