Belfast's Ulster Museum celebrates an enduring fascination with Age of the Dinosaur

Exhibition: Age of the Dinosaur, Ulster Museum, Belfast, until September 16 2012

A good dinosaur exhibition is always a winner. This is perhaps the first – and certainly the biggest – prehistoric treat of the summer, and it isn’t any old pile of fossils: there are seven full-scale animatronic dinos, joining 60 unique specimens loaned from the Natural History Museum and augmented by the Ulster’s own impressive collections.

.“There is an enduring fascination with dinosaurs,” says Jim McGreevy, the National Museums Northern Ireland Director of Collections who oversaw an installation by aptly-named hoisting team Unusual Rigging.

“The animatronic dinosaurs are from Kokoro, who are a leading robotics company, and they should thrill our visitors when they swing into action.”

Puppet shows, films, tours and even Monday openings during the school holidays make the Stone Age trip even more inviting.

• Admission £3.95-£6.95 (free for under-3s, family ticket £18.95, additional entry to Ulster Folk and Transport Museum or Ulster American Folk Park £25, entry to all venues £35). Book online.