Last year, Alton Towers was crowned UK Theme Park of the Year, Sik at Flamingo Land won Best New Attraction and Drayton Manor was awarded Best Value Theme Park.
Once again the British public were invited to vote for their favourite theme parks in national awards recognising the best rides and attractions, shows and events, as well as the theme parks offering the best customer service and value.
204,501 public votes were combined with the scores from a judging panel to determine the winners in each category. Of the 30 theme parks that received nominations, 18 won awards.
The awards ceremony was held at Drayton Manor on 22nd September and was attended by more than 100 representatives from the UK theme park industry. A recording of the event is available to watch here.
The biggest winners in the awards included Alton Towers and Drayton Manor in Staffordshire (with 11 and 6 awards respectively), Blackpool Pleasure Beach in Lancashire (7), LEGOLAND Windsor in Berkshire (6), Paultons Park in Hampshire (4) and Thorpe Park in Surrey (5). Other UK theme parks with multiple awards included Chessington World of Adventures in Surrey (2), Crealy in Devon (3), Adventure Island in Essex (3) and the various Gulliver’s Theme Parks (2).
Also winning awards last year: Fantasy Island in Lincolnshire, Flamingo Land in Yorkshire, Joyland in Norfolk, Oakwood Theme Park in Pembrokeshire, Pleasurewood Hills in Suffolk, Sundown Adventureland in Nottinghamshire, Twinlakes in Leicestershire, Wicksteed Park in Northamptonshire.
For UK content creators, there were also awards for Blogger of the Year, YouTuber of the Year and Instagrammer of the Year.
Categories in 2023
There will be 22 categories this year, with a mixture of popular ones from previous years and some new categories for 2023:
- Best New Attraction
- Best Reimagined Attraction
- Best Theme Park for Families
- Best Theme Park for Toddlers
- Best Theme Park for Thrills
- Best Theme Park with Animals
- Best Seaside Park
- Best Themed Roller Coaster
- Best Thrill Ride
- Best Water Ride
- Best New Event
- Best Live Entertainment
- Best Adventure Golf
- Best Theme Park Food
- Best Theme Park Hotel
- Best Theme Park Music
- Best Customer Service
- Best Value Theme Park
- Best Social Media Content
- Best Marketing Campaign
- Theme Park of the Year
- Content Creator of the Year
Nominations for 2023
In advance of the public vote taking place later this year, we will be compiling a shortlist with the help of our judging panel and YOU!
Nominations are now open at ukthemeparkawards.com