Natural History Museum with Dippy

Five years after it left London to embark on a UK-wide tour, Dippy the diplodocus cast will return to the Natural History Museum (NHM) in summer 2022 as part of a temporary installation. Back in 2015, the museum announced plans to redisplay its Hintze Hall, which welcomes visitors to the building, including replacing the sauropod plaster-cast that had sat there for 35 years with a blue whale skeleton. Dippy on Tour kicked off in February 2018, and since then the dinosaur has visited eight venues and been seen by more than 2 million visitors. Most recently it was on display at Norwich Cathedral. The museum’s long-term plan was always to have the cast return home to London, and in summer 2022 it will feature in a new free installation running until Christmas – further details are expected in the coming months. Doug Gurr, director of the NHM, said Dippy’s return would give people “the chance to see the nation’s favourite dinosaur in full splendour in South Kensington once again”.