Bepuzzling Summer Trail Comes to Chester City Centre

This summer, families in Chester will be able to track down ten colourfully outlandish vehicles on a high street trail thanks to Chester BID.

In Chester city centre this summer Chester BID are hosting a free family trail that is encouraging families to come in with this safe, outdoor and contactless event. They’ve teamed up with QR code trail experts High Street Safari to create the Bepuzzled Treasure Trail, a free interactive story-trail that is designed to encourage children to walk, get engaged and most importantly, have a lot of fun.  

The Bepuzzled Treasure Trail is positioned around the city centre with 10 ‘steamtabulous’ vehicles to find. Families will follow Ollie the fox and Izzy the bunny on a globe-trotting, puzzle-solving voyage around the world as they search for the ultimate treasure.

The trail takes about an hour to complete but can be completed in more than one visit. It’s completely free for families and groups to take part in and they win an e-book at the end that concludes the story.

The trail works by utilising contactless QR codes, without the need for families to download or sign up to anything. With safety in mind, it has been designed so that there is no need to go inside the venues.

When families in Chester scan each vehicle’s unique QR code they’ll learn more of the story and find a riddle to solve. They’ll also be able to take a unique selfie with each vehicle for a special keepsake. Younger children will enjoy spotting the colourful characters and vehicles in shop windows and older kids, and grown-up ones, will engage by reading the stories.

This is the third trail of its kind delivered by Chester BID since the covid outbreak, the first in Summer 2020 and again Easter holidays 2021. Using technology and suitable locations means families can experience Chester with a free, contactless and outdoor activity which also comes with a chance to win a prize. Chester has become known for its city trails.

Emma Pino regularly takes part in the city trails with her daughter Rosabella: “We take part in a lot of the events for children that are put on around the city supported by Chester BID.  My 7 year old particularly enjoys the trails around the city and has recently been sent a Nintendo Switch which she won after taking part in the Easter trail earlier this year. This was unexpected as we do them for fun and never expected to win anything! This took place during the last lockdown and gave us chance as a family to get out and do something fun without any risks. I think it was the same for many families. It is also great that these activities are bringing people back to the city centre.

We are really looking forward to taking part in the Bepuzzled Trail in the summer, especially, as with a lot of people this year, we will not be going away on holiday.”

Emily Ghazarian, Chester BID Marketing & Events Manager said: “Chester has great access to outside spaces and an extremely supportive community of businesses, residents and visitors. Despite a challenging climate on the high street, we are encouraged by the response to these family trails that help families and kids get out in the open air, spend time together, take in exercise and feel good about spending time in the city centre.”

To find out more about the trail and summer events visit the website:

www.experiencechester.co.uk

Venues hosting a ‘Steamtabulous Vehicle’ include:

1. Warhammer
2. The Entertainer
3. Marmalade
4. Claire House
5. Funky Cow
6. Wilko
7. Suzie K’s (ground floor)
8. The Body Shop
9. Mollie’s Sweet Shop
10. Accessorize

About Chester BID Company

A Business Improvement District (BID) is a business-led, business-funded body created to improve a defined commercial area. Chester BID is funded solely by the businesses within the city.

There are over 460 businesses in Chester’s BID area with a rateable value of more than £18,000. Each of these contribute a levy equal to 1% of their business rates every year to fund a wide range of improvements identified by the businesses themselves. It is expected that approximately £2.5m of private sector funds will be generated over the five-year BID term and this money will be reinvested back into the city centre.