Puy du Fou looks to open sister theme park in UK
The French historical park attracted 2.5 million visitors in 2023
The park said it is aiming to “create a new British cultural and historical attraction”
Puydufouconsultation.co.uk
The Puy du Fou historical park in western France could soon set up a new outpost in the UK, just a few years after it expanded operations to Spain.
The park in Vendée (Pays de la Loire), which specialises in historical spectacular shows, could open a new site near Bicester (20 km away from Oxford, and 80 km north of London), said its CEO Olivier Strebelle, in a statement seen by Le Figaro.
This new park would represent “an investment of £300 million (€355 million) and could create 700 direct and 2,000 indirect jobs”, he said.
The project is still being finalised, Mr Strebelle said, but it is likely to include a large park area and hotels, all with the same historical theme, just as the Puy du Fou site does in France.
If the project goes ahead, it will be the third Puy du Fou park.
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‘The perfect location’
The UK shows will explore British history, just as the French site focuses on French history and the Toledo (Spain) site tells Spanish stories. There are also set to be English ‘villages’ at the site, each themed to a different historical period.
The new project’s website states: “A British Puy du Fou will be a place where visitors can walk in a beautiful wooded park with stunning landscaped gardens, where they can immerse themselves in British history with carefully curated period villages; and where they can experience a series of world-class live shows based on the country’s history, which will amaze the whole family.”
The location has partly been chosen because of its accessibility to visitors; the park is planning to provide a shuttle service to and from Bicester train station (which runs regular trains to and from London), and the site is also close to the M40 motorway, putting it within an hour's drive of London.
"We have been looking for a site [in the UK] for many years, and have identified the perfect location," said Mr Strebelle.
The park plans to plant 10,000 trees on the site with the design is set to "minimise its impact" on the surrounding area, particularly in terms of noise, he said. It is also set to source supplies from local businesses as much as possible.
Mr Strebelle said that “after ten years, our investment will have doubled and the number of jobs will have tripled”, he added.
Public meetings on the plans are now scheduled for July 18 and 19, and a second consultation period will take place before the end of the year.
International intentions
The French park, which opened in 1989 in Les Épesses in Vendée, and attracted 2.5 million visitors in 2023, has set its sights further afield in recent years.
After opening a new site in Spain in 2019, it launched an immersive show in Shanghai, China at the end of May and is also working on a show inspired by the history of the Cherokee people in the United States.
Read also: French ‘world’s best’ theme park opens site in Spain
Read also: French historical theme park to host Indian Cherokee show in the US
Puy du Fou is not the only international theme park company looking to open a new site in the UK. American giant Universal is also working on a new park 50 km away, in Bedford (just over 80 km north of London).
