Summer of family friendly fun in Leeds city centre

With the summer school holidays now in full swing, parents and carers around Leeds will be looking for fun ways to keep their children entertained.

Leeds wants to be the best city in the UK for children and young people to grow up in, and Child Friendly Leeds and their partners took on board some big ideas from a competition for children and young people in 2017 about how to make Leeds city centre more child and family friendly. As a result, the city centre will come to life over the summer with a jam-packed calendar of family friendly events and activities.

Check out ‘Create: Sculpt: Play’, part of Yorkshire Sculpture International, outside Leeds Art Gallery from Saturday 20 July to Sunday 4 August, which offers FREE family friendly and fun activities and the chance to re-imagine the space with a focus on sculpture. There will be something for everyone to enjoy as part of this project supported by Leeds City Council, Leeds Art Gallery and DLA Design.

The ever popular pop-up park has returned to Cookridge Street complete with picnic tables and play equipment. The street is closed to traffic and nearly 1000 square metres of artificial grass laid out to create a temporary green space for everyone to enjoy until the end of the summer holidays. There is also a small temporary greenspace at the front of the city’s most iconic building, Leeds Town Hall.

Child Friendly Leeds Sundays started on 21 July, offering a range of free events and activities to encourage families to come into the city centre on Sundays through the summer. This year’s activities include arts and crafts, Lego building, climbing walls, circus skills, Peace Garden, Wonderdome, LS-ten skate and scoot day to name just a few. You can find out more at www.childfriendlyleeds.co.uk

People may already have seen full-size dinosaurs coming to life in the city centre and the whole family can have a monster day out hunting them down! This fantastic free child friendly event, brought to you by LeedsBID, starts from Saturday 27 July until Sunday 1 September. The Jurassic Trail will take you through Victoria Leeds, Leeds Kirkgate Market, the Merrion Centre and Trinity Leeds, making it perfect for dino-spotting whatever the weather.

Alongside these events, the CFL Live children’s festival makes its return to Millennium Square on Wednesday 7 August, and this year features CBeebies’ Mr. Bloom & His Band as the headline act. There will be lots of fun, games and audience participation throughout from brilliant compere Alex Winters and Heart FM plus a ‘Greatest Showman’ circus performance, and Family Rave Mayhem with Boomchikkaboom. Children and their families will also have the chance to participate in free activities around the square including face painting, Oxygen Freejumping, product making with LUSH, arts and crafts, sport, sensory play and much more! Tickets are priced at £5 and you can buy them here.

Families can also soak up the summer weather at the ever popular City Beach on Victoria Gardens from 10 August to 1 September.

Leeds City Council executive member for children and families Councillor Fiona Venner said:

“We want Leeds to be the best city for children and young people to grow up in, so I am delighted that we are able to offer so many fantastic activities for families to get involved in over the summer months. This really supports our commitment to putting children at the heart of everything we do and ensuring they have fun growing up.

“We truly value the voice and influence of children and young people in our city, therefore I am really pleased that our dedicated Child Friendly Leeds Ambassadors, partners and the Council’s City Centre Management Team have listened to their ideas to help make Leeds city centre more child and family friendly. I would like to thank them for their ongoing support and really do hope that families are encouraged to come into the city centre this summer to enjoy these fantastic and fun child friendly events.”

Leeds City Council executive member for learning, skills, employment and the city centre Councillor Jonathan Pryor said:

“Leeds is a vibrant city with lots to offer and it’s brilliant that there are so many activities taking place over the summer for children and families to get involved in. We work incredibly hard to ensure that our city is inclusive and I hope that everyone is able to enjoy the summer festivities and celebrate how wonderful Leeds is for all ages.”

There are even more fantastic family friendly events happening across the city this summer, so check out the Breeze website for more information.

Check out our Child Friendly Leeds City Centre Map, which was developed with children and young people in Leeds. Download the map and see what new places you can discover with your family!

ENDS

For media enquiries please contact:

Leeds City Council communications and marketing,

Email: communicationsteam@leeds.gov.uk

Tel: 0113 378 6007