Dino Festival returns to Virginia Museum of Natural History with life-size cast skeletons and more

Expert paleontologists will be available to teach you about the fossils and answer any questions you might have

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – A two-day dinosaur extravaganza is returning to Martinsville this weekend.

The Virginia Museum of Natural History is hosting its dinosaur festival on July 22 and 23 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This is the first time in three years that the festival is being held due to the pandemic.

The event will feature life-size cast skeletons and a large variety of dinosaur fossils. There will also be expert paleontologists available to teach you about the fossils and answer any questions you might have.

You and your family can also beat the heat by spending the day doing dino-themed activities and crafts.

“Dino Fest is definitely our most popular event we host at the museum,” said Zach Ryder, the marketing manager for the museum. “Not being able to have it for the past three years was kind of a sad thing. We are really happy to be bringing it back this year and hopefully, we will get a lot of new folks to come see it, but also people who have seen it in the past because it is going to be a little bit different than before. There are a lot of cool things to see.”

In addition to cast skeletons and skulls, the festival will have a large variety of actual dinosaur fossils, including the only fossil evidence that Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops engaged in battle. You can also see never-before-exhibited fossils of a sauropod.

During the festival, there will be plenty of food trucks and refreshments available.

Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for ages 3 to 17. Admission is free for children under three, museum members and members of museums and science centers that participate in the ASTC Passport program.