Client: Lakeside Village
Industry: Retail / Shopping Destination
Location: Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Event: Summer family entertainment programme
Programme: May–August 2025
Audience: Families and visitors of all ages
Big Foot services: Themed entertainment, family activities, mini golf, themed trails, craft workshops and interactive performers, experiential marketing, retail entertainment
The Brief
Lakeside Village wanted to make its retail destination a more attractive place for families to visit during the summer holidays. The objective was to provide free, high-quality family entertainment that would give visitors an additional reason to spend time at the centre and encourage families to return throughout the summer. The programme needed to work within a retail environment while offering enough variety to keep the experience engaging across several months.
The Challenge
The brief wasn’t simply to provide a one-off children’s activity. Lakeside Village needed a summer-long programme of family entertainment, with different experiences that could appeal to children and parents throughout the May-to-August period.
The activities also needed to be accessible to visitors of different ages and interests, while creating a consistent overall theme that could connect the individual experiences.
Big Foot therefore developed an under-the-sea theme that could be used across interactive activities, installations, crafts and live entertainment.
Our team coordinated with Centre Management at length to ensure we had the right dimensions for our props, activities and experiences, including the best time for installation and set up, which would take a considerable time and needed to be in place prior to the first date of activities.
Families dove into summer fun – literally. Lakeside Village welcomed visitors of all ages to enjoy free, high-quality entertainment in a vibrant, welcoming atmosphere. From imaginative storytelling to ocean-themed crafts, the centre buzzed with activity, driving repeat visits all summer long.
The Solution
Big Foot created a programme of ocean-inspired family activities and entertainment for Lakeside Village, combining interactive installations, games, creative workshops and live performers.
The programme included four key elements.
Rocky Reefs Crazy Golf
Big Foot supplied a free, under-the-sea-themed mini golf course designed specifically for family participation.
The Rocky Reefs Crazy Golf experience featured colourful ocean-themed props, obstacles and everything visitors needed to play.
This provided Lakeside Village with a substantial interactive attraction that families could participate in during their visit.
Ocean-Themed Prop Trail
Big Foot created a centre-wide under-the-sea prop trail.
Visitors were challenged to find six different sea characters positioned around Lakeside Village. Finding the characters revealed a secret word, turning a walk around the retail destination into an interactive treasure hunt.
The trail encouraged families to explore different areas of the centre while taking part in a themed activity together.
Storybook-Inspired Craft Workshops
From 26 July to 30 August 2025, Big Foot delivered children’s craft workshops every Saturday.
The workshops combined storytelling, creative crafts, puzzles and quizzes, with activities inspired by children’s books.
This added a regular programme of scheduled family activities to the summer offering and gave visitors a reason to return for different sessions.
Pirates Ahoy
Big Foot also provided interactive pirate performers to bring live entertainment to the programme.
The performers added a character-led element to the under-the-sea theme, interacting with families and creating opportunities for children to become part of the experience rather than simply watching a performance.
What Big Foot Delivered
Across the summer programme, Big Foot provided:
The Result
From May through August 2025, Lakeside Village offered visitors a consistent programme of free, themed family entertainment, rather than relying on a single event or activity.
The combination of a permanent-style interactive attraction, a centre-wide trail, scheduled workshops and live performers meant that the programme provided different ways for families to engage with the destination throughout the summer.
The under-the-sea concept also gave the individual activities a coherent identity, allowing the crazy golf, prop trail, workshops and pirate entertainment to work together as one overall summer campaign.
Key Facts
| Client | Lakeside Village |
| Location | Doncaster, South Yorkshire |
| Programme | May–August 2025 |
| Theme | Under the Sea |
| Main audience | Families |
| Crazy golf | Rocky Reefs themed course |
| Prop trail | 6 sea characters |
| Workshops | Every Saturday, 26 July–30 August |
| Live entertainment | Interactive pirate performers |
| Cost to visitors | Free |
What This Case Study Demonstrates
This project demonstrates Big Foot’s ability to create and deliver multi-week family entertainment programmes for retail destinations, combining themed attractions, interactive trails, creative workshops and live performers.
Rather than providing one isolated piece of entertainment, Big Foot developed a connected summer programme that could operate across different dates and locations within a retail complex while maintaining a consistent theme and visitor experience.
For shopping centres, retail parks and other visitor destinations looking for family entertainment during school holidays, this approach provides a way to combine regular activities with larger interactive attractions and themed entertainment.
