Three top Staffordshire attractions have been recognised among the best in the country, picking up a host of accolades at this year’s UK Theme Park Awards.
Alton Towers received nine awards at the event – the second highest number received by any theme park – while Drayton Manor took home three awards and Screamfest, staged at the National Forest Adventure Farm near Burton upon Trent, won silver in the Scream Park of the Year category.
A gold award was given for Best Brand Activation for Minecraft: Meet the Mobs, an immersive experience which ran over the summer featuring character meet-and-greets, a park-wide mob trail and themed food.
Alton Towers was also voted the UK’s Best Landscaped Theme Park.
The attraction won silvers in Best Theme Park for Thrills, Waterpark of the Year, Best Halloween Event (for Scarefest), Best Theme Park Holiday Village (for its Enchanted Village) and Best Social Media Content.
Bronze awards were in the categories of Best New Attraction (for Bluey the Ride: Here Come the Grannies!) and Best New Entertainment (for Dark Hallow).
Tamworth’s Drayton Manor was awarded silver in the Best Christmas Event category for its Winter Wonderland attraction, while the popular Thomas Land section led to a bronze award in the Best Theme Park for Toddlers category. Another bronze was awarded for Best Value Theme Park.
A Drayton Manor spokesperson said: “We’re so excited to have taken home three awards at this year’s UK Theme Park Awards.
“From Christmas magic and family-friendly days out to creating brilliant experiences for our youngest visitors, these awards are a huge reflection of the people behind the scenes who make it all happen.”
Screamfest is a fully immersive adult fright night experience featuring walk-through scare zones and scare mazes, attracting more than 30,000 visitors each Halloween.
Ivor Robinson, who runs the attraction with his brother Tom, thanked the team for their hard work, and added: “This year is the 15th anniversary of Screamfest so it is great to be recognised in the UK Theme Park Awards as one of the top scream parks in the country.
“To be voted silver by the public is a real honour and testament to all the hard work the whole team puts in each year to deliver such an amazing event for all our fans.”
It is the seventh year that the UK Theme Park Awards have been held, with members of the public invited to vote for their favourite parks.
Thirty-six theme parks received nominations and 24 won awards.
267,982 public votes were combined with the scores from a judging panel to determine the winners in each category.
Nationally, Paultons Park in Hampshire, was crowned Theme Park of the Year and picked up 11 awards, more than any other attraction.
