UK Theme Park Awards 2026 Presented in Blackpool

(eap) Yesterday, this year’s “UK Theme Park Awards”, organised by consumer guide platform Theme Parks-UK.com, were presented at the British amusement park Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool. Numerous British amusement parks and attractions had been nominated across 22 categories. The respective winners were determined by a jury and a public vote, in which a total of 267,982 votes were cast.

The evening’s two main winners – taking the titles of “Theme Park of the Year, Large” for parks attracting more than one million visitors annually and “Theme Park of the Year, Small” for parks welcoming fewer than one million visitors – were Paultons Park in southern England and Pleasurewood Hills Park in Lowestoft in the East Anglia region.

Paultons Park, which is run by the Mancey owner family, collected a total of eleven awards. In addition to its Theme Park of the Year title, the park’s new “Drakon” roller coaster – a Custom Euro-Fighter supplied by German manufacturer Gerstlauer – was recognised in the “Best New Attraction” category. The coaster opened at Paultons Park this season as part of the new themed area “Valgard: Realm of the Vikings”.

Lawrence Mancey, Director Marketing & Technology at Paultons Park, was also named “Theme Park Personality of the Year”. Mancey commented: “These trophies are a reflection of the hard work from the whole Paultons Park team. We couldn’t be prouder of what they’ve achieved over the past year; from our projects, engineering, landscaping, and operational teams who brought Drakon and Valgard to life, to everyone across the park who works tirelessly to give families unforgettable days out.”

Host venue Pleasure Beach also received several UK Theme Park Awards. Among others, the park was recognised in the “Best Seaside Park” and “Best New Entertainment” categories, with the latter award presented for its new show “Alice Frozen in a Wonderland of Dreams”. “Aviktas”, the Gyro Swing attraction supplied by Intamin and opened this year, took Silver in the “Best New Attraction” category.

“Winning awards is always a wonderful feeling, but to receive recognition for our newest show Alice Frozen in a Wonderland of Dreams, and ride, Aviktas, especially means a lot. It’s a testament to the value they have added to the park and to all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to bring them to life,” said Amanda Thompson OBE, Managing Director of Pleasure Beach Resort.

A complete list of all winners of this year’s UK Theme Park Awards, which were first presented in 2020 and this year were supported by AttractionTickets.com, TAG Live and further sponsors, can be found here.

Industry professionals attending the upcoming IAAPA Expo Europe in London might also take the opportunity to visit some of the nominated and award-winning British leisure attractions themselves. Our latest magazine issue of EAP offers a preview of the trade show as well as some “insider tips” for its host city, London.

We look forward to welcoming you at EAP booth #S1700!