Boomtown festival organisers want to open Bristol theme park

Boomtown HQ in St Philips. Credit: Google Maps

The company behind the music festival Boomtown wants to open a new "amazement park" in Bristol.

A planning application has been submitted to Bristol City Council which, if approved, could see a theme park open where the festival's industrial HQ is located in St Philips.

According to the documents, it would be a "pioneering multi-sensory immersive arts theme park" which would be "the first of its kind in Europe", and open on a permanent basis.

Visitors would be able to go on a tour of the site at 124-126 Albert Road, with visits lasting between one and three hours.

There would be 27 artistic and interactive environments to discover across multiple levels.

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In November 2019, Boomtown opened Area 404 at its HQ - a permanent event space that saw tickets for its first event sell out immediately.

The space that bosses are hoping to convert is currently used for storage and construction of Boomtown's sets for their annual festival in Hampshire, which attracts more than 66,000 visitors every year.

They no longer need the space for that purpose, because suppliers are now building the staging on their own sites and the equipment and materials are being stored elsewhere.

A planning statement submitted to the council says the new theme park is "designed to complement the UK’s extensive network of visitor attractions and cultural arts experiences, whilst at the same time enhancing Bristol’s already well-developed creative tourism offer".

Boomtown festival is held near Winchester. Credit: Boomtown Fair

It says 100 people would be employed at the park, 60 currently work there, and they would "predominantly be recruited from the local and wider Bristol city area".

The site is less than 2km away from Bristol Temple Meads railway station, but there would be nearly 60 car parking spaces as well as a coach bay and a taxi rank at the site.

It is unclear whether Area 404 would be affected by the launch of the theme park, although the planning statement says "the change of use is solely in relation to the warehouse and storage space."

The application needs to be considered by the council before it is approved.

Boomtown has been approached for more information.