Voting now open for the UK Theme Park Awards 2022

The public vote for the UK Theme Park Awards 2022 opens today at ukthemeparkawards.com

Expert Judges include Paul Kelly, Chief Executive of the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions.

Rubber Cheese is sponsoring the Best Historic Ride this year.

The annual UK Theme Park Awards celebrate the best theme parks in the country and the public vote is now open at ukthemeparkawards.com

For the third year, the British public are able to vote for their favourite theme parks in national awards recognising the best rides and attractions, shows and events.

The awards are organised by ThemeParks-UK.com, an independent consumer guide to UK theme parks. This year, the awards are presented in association with AttractionTickets.com

There are 22 categories this year, including Theme Park of the Year, Best Customer Service and Best Value. New categories include Best Steel Coaster, Best Wooden Coaster and Best Mascot.

In advance of the public vote, a shortlist has been compiled using public nominations and with the help of a panel of judges including Paul Kelly (Chief Executive of the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions) and Andy Hine MBE (Chairman of the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain). 36,828 nominations were received, with a total of 30 theme parks nominated for awards in 2022.

The major contenders for the awards include Alton Towers and Drayton Manor in Staffordshire, Blackpool Pleasure Beach in Lancashire, Thorpe Park and Chessington World of Adventures in Surrey, LEGOLAND Windsor in Berkshire and Paultons Park in Hampshire.

The other UK theme parks to receive multiple nominations include Adventure Island in Essex, Blackgang Chine of the Isle of Wight, Crealy in Devon, Fantasy Island in Lincolnshire, Flamingo Land in Yorkshire, Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach in Norfolk, Oakwood in Pembrokeshire and Pleasurewood Hills in Suffolk, as well as the various Gulliver’s Theme Parks.

The awards will also acknowledge the growing community of theme park content creators with three awards; Blogger of the Year, YouTuber of the Year and Instagrammer of the Year.

The full list of nominees is available at ukthemeparkawards.com

Best of luck to all the nominees, especially in the Best Historic Ride category:

• Alice Ride (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)

• Chair-O-Plane (Dreamland Margate)

• Derby Racer (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)

• Flying Machines (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)

• Gallopers (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)

• Ghost Train (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)

• Grand Prix (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)

• Snails (Joyland)

• Victorian Carousel (Crealy)

• Water Chute (Wicksteed Park)

Author:

Kelly Molson Managing Director

Host of the popular Skip the Queue Podcast, for people working in or working with visitor attractions, she regularly delivers workshops and presentations on the sector at various national conferences and universities including The Visitor Attractions Conference, ASVA and Anglia Ruskin University.

Read more about me