Jurassic Quest returns to Saskatoon

(Hallee Mandryk/CTV News)

Those who visited Prairieland Park over the weekend had the opportunity to travel back in time thanks to the return of Jurassic Quest.

“It’s a very immersive event where children play, they interact with their parents, they interact with our assets and our employees. And it’s just a wonderful day for them to experience dinosaurs up close and personal,” Robert Hardy, the CEO of Jurassic Quest, said

The walk-through experience features various true-to-size dinosaur animatronics, which take many hands to assemble ahead of the event.

“Jurassic Quest is a passion of love. We have 20 full-time employees that travel with the show. We hire local community team members of about 20 per day. So it’s about 40 people to run our show. It takes two days to set up, and we work all night to set up in a day and a half to break down,” Hardy said.

This weekend marks the second time that Jurassic Quest has been hosted in Saskatoon, and two new exhibits were added for visitors to enjoy, which featured ocean and ice age creatures.

“We want to come back with new experiences for the families so they can enjoy other elements, in addition to dinosaurs. So we were all about the dinosaurs, but we now have a 53-foot megalodon and all of the ancient ocean, prehistoric sea creatures...and our Frozen Frontier assets as well,” Hardy said.

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In addition to the massive animatronics, visitors could interact with dinosaurs on a smaller scale as well. Eli Blais is a dinosaur trainer for Jurassic Quest, and that job description includes showcasing the smaller creatures as well.

“I’ve got Tyson right here, he’s a six-week-old T-Rex. I carry him around, and I let the kids interact with him...some are a little scared of him because of his nature, he’s a carnivore,” Blais said.

As one of the local staff members, Blais said many in Saskatchewan share a love for dinosaurs thanks to the fact that the prairies were home to many different dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

“A lot of the fossils in Canada come from Saskatchewan and Alberta. So... it’s just kind of tied to our roots. Not only that, but all those dinosaur movies that come out, Jurassic Park came out when I was a kid. I watched those when they came out in theatres,” Blais said.

Adding that while the opinion might be a little biased, Blais’ favourite dinosaur has been a Tyrannosaurus Rex for a long time.

“I know it’s cliché, and I know I’m holding Tyson, but I love T-Rex, always have. I’ve loved the T-Rex since I was a kid,” Blais said.

Hardy added that while Jurassic Quest is based in Texas, he plans to bring the show back to Saskatchewan in the future thanks to the warm reception.

“We traveled all the way up here from my hometown, and it takes a lift to get here. And we’re excited that it was well received by the community here. And so we will do that, and we’ll have something new when we come back in a couple of years,” Hardy said.