19 April 2022
This Spring, families in Southampton will be able to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee and have a great day out with this augmented reality story-trail, hosted by Visit Southampton and High Street Safari.
As part of local plans to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, from April 30th until June 12th, Visit Southampton has teamed up with High Street Safari to run a free story-trail in Southampton’s town centre. This innovative experience lets families choose what happens in the story and is completely contactless, with anyone with a smartphone being able to take part for free. Players will not only discover cute characters along the route, but they also get to see them burst to life in augmented reality and take selfies and record videos with them.
The idea behind the event is to encourage families to come into Southampton with a safe, socially distanced, and ambitious event. Shopping parents will love being able to get the kids on board with this amazing experience and families looking for a relaxing day out can encourage kids to have a screen-time break, do some walking and get rewarded at the end.
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Beacon Trail is located at seven stops around the city centre to visit, positioned so that families can discover new areas/businesses. Families will be guided on their trip by Sir Barnaby Beacon as he visits seven memorable and magical friends, like Charlie Crown or Theodora Throne, who have come to life from Buckingham Palace and gone on a trip to see Southampton. It’s completely free for families and groups to take part in and they recieve a free, digital fun pack at the end.
Rebecca Handley, Interim Executive Director at GO! Southampton said: “This is the perfect opportunity to not only celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and encourage families to explore the city centre but to also see how well mobile-led trails work in the city centre.”
Not only is the trail an innovative and fun day out for players, but they can also choose to donate to Help for Heroes to support our veterans and their families. Melanie Waters, chief executive of the charity said:
“We’re thrilled to be the charity partner for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Beacons Trail and really looking forward to taking part in this innovative, community-based activity, as part of our plans to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee this year.”
The trail runs from April 30th to June 12th. To find out more about the trail, visit the website: www.jubileebeacontrail.com
