All 80-odd Bears and Cubs are together at Bluewater for the last time on 26 and 27 September, 10am to 5pm. Free, but the timed ticket must be booked first.
The bears come back for one weekend. Every sculpture from the summer’s Dartford Bear Hunt, more than 80 of them, goes on display together at the Bluewater Village Marquee on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September, 10am to 5pm. (Dartford Bear Hunt)
It is free, but you need a timed-entry ticket booked in advance. There is no walk-up.
Five days later they are sold.
What is on, and when
- Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September, 10am to 5pm: the Farewell Weekend at the Bluewater Village Marquee. Free timed-entry tickets, booked in advance. Parking on site is free.
- Tuesday 29 September: the deadline for anyone planning to bid in person at the auction to complete the bidder registration form.
- Thursday 1 October: the auction itself, at the same marquee. Online bidding is already open, so you can bid without attending.
- Thursday 1 October: the raffle draw, first prize a one-of-a-kind Bear Cub sculpture.
What was on the trail
The trail ran from 17 July to 13 September, free and outdoors, across Dartford and Bluewater. It was led by ellenor, the hospice charity on Coldharbour Road in Gravesend that cares for adults and children across Dartford, Gravesham, Swanley and Bexley, working with Dartford Borough Council as presenting partner and Wild in Art, the company that produces this kind of public art trail. (Dartford Bear Hunt)
The organisers’ own trail app listing counts 31 Big Bears, 51 Bear Cubs and one book bench. The Big Bears were painted by local and national artists and stood on streets, in parks and in open spaces. The Cubs were decorated by schools and community groups and went indoors, into libraries, museums and shop windows.
The design is drawn from Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury’s We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, and the trail was run with Walker Books.
The auction
The Big Bears go under the hammer on Thursday 1 October at the Bluewater Village Marquee, with Catherine Southon as auctioneer. Southon spent nine years at Sotheby’s, latterly as head of scientific instruments and maritime works of art, before setting up her own auction house in Kent. (Dartford Bear Hunt auction)
You do not have to be in the room. Online bidding opened before the sale and the auction is live-streamed, so remote bids are taken on the night. Anyone bidding in person has to register by 29 September.
Every penny goes to ellenor. The charity says it needs £9.6 million a year to run its services, which include an inpatient ward, hospice at home, care home support, wellbeing and therapeutic services for adults, and nursing, oncology, respite and wellbeing support for children in their own homes. (ellenor, via the trail site)
There is also a £5 raffle, capped at 20 tickets a person, open to over-18s resident in Great Britain. First prize is a Bear Cub sculpture; the other prizes are two Bear Keeper experiences at Wildwood Trust, a family cinema ticket and a merchandise hamper. It closes before the draw on 1 October. (Raffle terms)
What the charity says it got out of it
ellenor’s chief executive Jon Quinn said the trail “has been about so much more than the sculptures”, and that its value was in introducing people to what the hospice does.
“When serious illness turns life upside down, ellenor is here. We stand alongside local people and their families, providing specialist care and support that is shaped around what matters to them, at a time when they need it most.”
The charity’s own write-up quotes a parent who followed the trail with their children: “It also made us more aware of ellenor and the hospice care they provide for local families. Before the Bear Hunt, I don’t think we had really thought about hospice care or what it meant.” (The Bears Say Goodbye)
What it means for you
- Book before you go. The Farewell Weekend is free, but entry is by timed slot booked in advance. Turning up without one is not an option the organisers offer.
- This is the only time they are all in one place. On the trail the sculptures were spread across Dartford and Bluewater. After Sunday they are sold and dispersed.
- Bidding does not require attending. Online bidding is open now. Registration by 29 September applies only if you want to bid in the room on 1 October.
- Delivery is on you. The organisers say delivery is payable by the successful bidder, and that they will get quotes through their logistics partners. These are large sculptures: work out where one would go before you bid.
- Parking at Bluewater is free, and the marquee is in Bluewater Village, the restaurant side of the centre.
Sources
- Farewell Weekend, Dartford Bear Hunt
- The Bears Say Goodbye, Dartford Bear Hunt, 21 September 2026
- Dartford Bear Hunt Auction
- Raffle and terms
- About ellenor
More things to do: things to do in Dartford. Driving to Bluewater this weekend? Check roadworks and travel first, because the QEII Bridge shuts overnight on Saturday.
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