The successes of Dippy on Tour

Total visitors: 153,189

Key success: 201 volunteers donated nearly 12,000 hours of time

Dippy's tour started at Dorset County Museumopens in a new window, where he took advantage of the local Jurassic Coast to learn more about fossils.

The exhibiton showed how popular Dippy would prove to be - visitor numbers surpassed the venue's annual figures in under three months. A highlight was the farewell parade through the town centre, attended by more than 250 local children.

Total visitors: 131,902

Key success: 100% of visitors said their interest in science had increased after visiting the Dippy exhibition

Dippy then crossed the Irish Sea to visit the Ulster Museumopens in a new window. The focus of this exhibition was on the local natural history of Ireland.

Dippy showed how he could draw in new people: the museum had their busiest day ever during the run and a visitor survey discovered that 14% of visitors questioned had never been to the museum before.

Total visitors: 304,928

Key success: 10,355 school students participated in learning programmes in Newcastle as part of the tour

Dippy's spent the summer of 2019 at Great North Museum: Hancock, Newcastle upon Tyne, where the accompanying exhibition provided a thought-provoking exploration of the effects of climate change.

The venue saw a large uplift in visitor numbers - 51% more visitors than over a comparable time period before Dippy's visit. 75% of visitors questioned had never seen Dippy before.

Total visitors: 166,172

Key success: Visitor numbers were up by 1031% comparedto the previous year, before the exhibition was forced to close

Dippy's penultimate stop was at Number One Riverside, Rochdaleopens in a new window. The accompanying exhibition was hosted nearby at Touchstonesopens in a new window, and explored biodiversity and sustainability.

The pandemic meant that the tour did not have a full uninterrupted run, but while in Rochdale, Dippy became a proud owner of an iconic oversized Blue Peter badge!

Total visitors: 255,548

Key success: £4.2 million was spent by visitors in the city centre as part of their visit

Dippy's second stop was at Birmingham Museum and Art Galleryopens in a new window, where the accompanying exhibition examined the relationship between dinosaurs and birds.

Over a quarter of a million people visited Dippy over his 107-day stay, making the tour the most successful temporary exhibition ever at the venue.

Total visitors: 643,794

Key success: The total visitors to Dippy smashed the orginal target for Glasgow by 390,000

Dippy's fourth stop was Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgowopens in a new window.

The tour was fulfilling one of its aims - providing access to a star specimen to people who could not travel to London. When surveyed, 86% of visitors questioned said they had not seen Dippy before.  

During Dippy's stay at Kelvingrove, the tour surpassed its one-millionth in-person visitor.

Total visitors: 213,740

Key success: Cardiff collaborated with their Youth Forum, who contributed 506 hours of time to co-design the exhibition

Dippy's sixth stop was at National Museum Cardiffopens in a new window, where the accompanying exhibition explored environmental issues and sustainability.

As in other venues, the tour and the extra visitors it attracted provided important extra income to its hosting museum. Compared to the same period the year before, the museum shop almost doubled its revenue.

Total visitors: 234,605

Key success: 12,00 people made climate pledges of positive actions they would take to support the planet

Dippy's final stop was in the nave atNorwich Cathedralopens in a new window, with accompanying installations situated around the cathedral buildings including the cloisters.

Dippy was visited by over 10,000 school children and 180 volunteers contributed over 9,000 hours of time to help with the visit.