Fri 10th Apr 2026
The Great Big Dinosaur Show
11:30am - 3:00pm
Price: £9 plus £1 booking fee
Expect some spine-tinglingly funny scares and get your groove on to some Jurassic Classics! The show is inspired by Simon Mole’s 4th book; A First Book of Dinosaurs.
The Great Big Poetry Party!
Kick back in the comfort of your own home
to enjoy a huge helping of Poems, Raps and Randomness!
If you enjoyed the wild wordplay and legendary lyrics at The Great Big Dinosaur Show, you’re sure to love The Great Big Poetry Party!
Join in with Simon Mole and Gecko’s inspired improvisation and enjoy performances from the greatest guest poets in the land:
IONEY SMALLHORNE & FRANCESCA BEARD
showing you there is more than one way to pen a poem!
Hosted & Facilitated by Simon Mole & Gecko
Featuring performances from 2 special guest poets
Funded by Arts Council England & Apples and Snakes
Supported by Rua Arts
Date: Sunday 10th November
Time: 4pm
Cost: Free, booking essential
Running time:50mins
Age Guidance:4 - 11yrs
Location:Zoom
Book your place here: https://www.simonmole.com/kids-poetry
The Great Big Dino Write-Along!
We’re looking for budding poets and artists to participate in our Great Big Dino Write-Along! Write a dino-related poem or create a prehistoric piece of artwork and post it on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #MoleGecko. These will be displayed at The Hat Factory on the day of The Great Big Dinosaur Show!
You can submit your work online via the link below. It will be active from the 23rd September.
Dates
- Friday, April 10, 2026
The Hat Factory
The Hat Factory is Luton's leading arts and entertainment venue featuring live music, club nights, theatre, dance, films, children's activities, workshops, classes and gallery exhibitions.
It's a centre of artistic excellence set within a vibrant urban environment. It offers the young and the young at heart the chance to engage with the arts, to be inspired by the UK’s leading arts practitioners, and to develop artistic skills and confidence.
The Hat Factory is a combined arts venue in the centre of Luton. It opened in 2003 and since then has been the area’s main provider of contemporary theatre, dance and music. We work with both emerging and proven producers and artists, through programming, engagement programmes and our Associate Artist scheme. Their music programming is vibrant, offering an eclectic portfolio of high quality artists from the worlds of jazz, blues, folk, world music, indie and hip hop. Complementing their own programming, they welcome local/regional promoters to the venue, broadening their music offer and at the same time supporting young promoters and their businesses. They programme contemporary theatre and dance with a focus on fresh, new and relevant stories from both established and emerging touring companies who are making high quality work in the UK. They’ve programmed companies like Earthfall, Chickenshed, New International Encounter (NIE), Trestle, Menagerie, Eastern Angles, Atma, State of Emergency, 30 Bird, Tavaziva, Analogue and Jean Abreu Dance to name but a few.
Venue Hire
The Hat Factory has flexible spaces of various sizes to suit every need. See Venue Hire for more information.
Programming
To become part of The Hat Factory's programme, please contact our Head of Arts & Cultural Programmes, Fahim Qureshi at Fahim.Qureshi@LutonCulture.com
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