The Dippy effect: Facts and figures on dinosaur's visit to Norwich
Farewell to Dippy service at Norwich Cathedral. Photograph: Norwich Cathedral/Bill Smith - Credit: Norwich Cathedral/Bill Smith
A total of 234,000 people visited Dippy the dinosaur during his 16-week stay at Norwich Cathedral.
The Natural History Museum’s 26-metre Diplodocus cast was in the city as part of Dippy on Tour: A Natural History Adventure, with the cathedral being the final stop on the eight-venue tour.
Dippy the dinosaur from the great west door of Norwich Cathedral. Photograph: Norwich Cathedral/Bill Smith - Credit: Norwich Cathedral/Bill Smith
The cathedral has now released some facts and figures from the visit.
More than 10,000 young people visited Dippy on Tour with their school or with organisations including Guiding and Scouting groups.
About 1,000 schoolchildren from across the county took part in the Sing to Dippy project which culminated in special performances of Creation Song around the famous dinosaur.
Farewell to Dippy service at Norwich Cathedral. Photograph: Norwich Cathedral/Bill Smith - Credit: Norwich Cathedral/Bill Smith
The cathedral also offered autism-friendly sessions and special times for looked after children to explore the exhibition.
Nearly 120,000 of the visitors explored Dippy’s home in the Norwich in greater detail and visited the cathedral’s east end as well the Dippy on Tour exhibition in the Nave.
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More than 12,000 people enjoyed the wider Dippy events programme.
Farewell to Dippy service at Norwich Cathedral. Photograph: Norwich Cathedral/Bill Smith - Credit: Norwich Cathedral/Bill Smith
As well as giving people the chance to see a dinosaur cast up close, Dippy’s visit was also about encouraging people to engage with nature and help protect the planet for the future, and the trees in the exhibition’s Refection Zone had more than 12,000 leaves added with individual pledges from people.
The weekly Talkative Tuesdays programme, which was attended by more than 800 people, further put the spotlight on today’s climate crisis alongside focussing on the encounter between faith and science.
Farewell to Dippy service at Norwich Cathedral. Photograph: Norwich Cathedral/Bill Smith - Credit: Norwich Cathedral/Bill Smith
The Dean of Norwich, the Very Rev Jane Hedges, said: “We have been on such an amazing journey with Dippy over these last 16 weeks and it is brilliant that more than 234,000 people have been able to join us on this incredible adventure."
Dippy the dinosaur from the great west door of Norwich Cathedral. Photograph: Norwich Cathedral/Bill Smith - Credit: Norwich Cathedral
On Sunday October 31, the day after the Dippy on Tour exhibition officially closed, the cathedral said goodbye with a farewell evensong.
Norwich Cathedral Girls’ Choir, Norwich Cathedral Children’s Choir and Total Ensemble Theatre Company all participated in the service.
