Giant hopscotches are taking over Bristol’s green spaces for its 650th birthday

Giant hopscotches are taking over Bristol’s green spaces for its 650th birthday

Posted on: 26 Jul 2023

As part of Bristol’s Hoppy Birthday celebrations, 650 tile hopscotches will be springing up across the city centre, creating an enormous playground just in time for the summer holidays.

 

The FREE giant hopscotch trail will provide a fun way to recognise Bristol’s 650th anniversary as a city, hopping into parks and green spaces throughout the city centre this summer. 

 

 

Brought to life by the Bristol City Centre BID and Europe’s largest street art festival, Upfest, this sprawling artwork will get Bristolians of all ages unleashing their inner child – whether you’re young of age or young of heart. 

 

Colourful bean bags will also be available, creating the ultimate playground feel throughout the city, allowing visitors to set targets, throw the bags and move towards the tile. Providing families with a free activity for the school holidays, Bristolians are invited to get creative with the tiles, creating their own games as well as the traditional hopscotch.

 

The three massive hopscotches are located in Queen Square, Castle Park and College Green. Sprayed onto the grass of these iconic sites, each one will incorporate as many as 650 individual tiles and will be brought to life in the shape of the historically significant number.

2023 marks Bristol’s 650th year as a city, when – in 1373 – King Edward III granted Bristol rights and privileges with a royal charter, giving the city and its suburbs jurisdiction independent from surrounding county authorities. 

 

Ever since then, Bristol has forged its own independent identity, becoming the creative, diverse community we know today. Speaking about the celebratory hopscotch trail, Vicky Lee (Head of Bristol City Centre BID) has said:

 

“We’re looking forward to transforming our city into a giant playground and see Bristolians come together, say Happy Birthday to Bristol and celebrate as a city - supporting our local businesses in the process.”

With two hopscotches already installed, the trail will be completed by the end of this week with sites located in Queen Square, Castle Park and College Green.

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Article by:

Stanley Gray

Stan is a born and bred Bristolian, recently graduated from studying English Literature in Sheffield. His passions are music and literature and he spends the majority of his time in venues all over the city, immersing himself in Bristol’s alternative music scene. A lifelong Bristol City fan, Stan’s Saturdays are spent watching his team both home and away.