By Andrew Brown, Stand Up For Southport
Southport Pleasureland shook November into life with a superb Day Of The Dead Festival on Saturday.
The park has attracted increasing numbers of visitors to this event in recent years, wowed by its tribute to the colourful Mexican-themed festival. It is easy to see why they keep coming back.
I visited the festival for the first time at the weekend with my wife and two daughters, aged 10 and five.
Gates opened at 5pm and while my daughters have enjoyed many great days out at Southport Pleasureland over the years, this was their first night-time event, which added to the excitement.
The rides were glowing with lights, and there was lots of high-energy entertainment with the likes of the Feats Of Fire Stage Show and Katumba Drummers performing throughout the evening.
Characters in Day Of The Dead themed costumes and decorations throughout the park added to a vibrant atmosphere.
It was a very well attended event, with large volumes of traffic along Marine Drive, and car parks filling up fast.
Event tickets (£24.50 for riders) allowed unlimited rides, which allowed us to try lots of rides across the park. £10 non-ride tickets were also available. With over 50 rides and attractions on-site, there was lots of choice.
There was a huge choice of rides for people of all ages, whether it was the Haunted House, the Dodgems, the Apple Coaster, the Haunted House, Log Flume, the Waltzers, with some faster rides for the older ones such as Frisbee, Matterhorn, and others. It showed a wide range of visitors, with families with young children, to older teenagers, to groups of adults. My daughters especially loved Dumbo and Twister, wanting to go back time and again. A special Snapchat filter was available to help people create special pictures on the night.
The site was well maintained and decorated, and the staff on site were friendly, helpful and very efficient at keeping the rides flowing.
Many years ago, there was a perception among some of Southport as a seaside ‘bucket and spade’ town that closed once the summer holidays were over. That is no longer true. Southport Pleasureland now offers attractions throughout the year, and it has been great to see events such as their week-long Halloween Festival every October and their Day Of The Dead Festival every November. Southport has so many things happening during autumn, spring and winter now to attract visitors from around the region all year round.
There is tremendous energy at Southport Pleasureland now. There is huge ambition, which we saw as we walked towards the entrance, past a scene of building work taking place to create a brand new Viking themed adventure golf course and Viking themed eatery, which is due to open next year.
Planning is also underway for a new LED illuminated observation wheel; a new roller coaster; and a new terminal, coffee shop and cafe at the entrance to the Southport Pleasureland Miniature Railway. This attraction is only going to get bigger and better.
Our evening on Saturday ended in spectacular style, with a stunning firework display starting at 8.30pm that wowed the watching crowds throughout the park.
We had the best seats in the house, as the display happened to start just as we were sitting high in the Dumbo flying elephant ride! It was a grandstand view.
There was a brilliant array of pyrotechnics with an extensive display that lasted for some time.
My youngest daughters both scored the evening 10/10, saying watching the fireworks was their highlight of the night. We enjoyed hours of fun to brighten up one of those dark November nights.
It was a superb evening of entertainment, thoroughly recommended.
For more details of what’s happening at Southport Pleasureland, please visit: www.southportpleasureland.com
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