21 Jun Happy 25th Birthday Bas Vegas!
This month marks Festival Leisure Park’s 25th anniversary of opening, and the park are celebrating a quarter of a century as Essex’s premier leisure destination. The park – affectionately known locally as Bas Vegas – welcomes over 3.2 million visitors a year – and while it has seen many changes over time, it remains a popular choice for groups to enjoy a meal together, a game of bowling or the latest movie release.
The cinema at the park, now run by Cineworld, has been showing blockbusters since the heady days of Titanic, Saving Private Ryan and The Truman Show back in 1998. Cineworld continues to provide an incredible range of experiences including the immersive image004.jpg4DX screen, complete with moving seats and real-life special effects including soaking the audience and dispersing a range of smelly-vision.
Matthew Chambers, Centre Manager at Festival Leisure Park, “Festival Leisure – or I probably should say Bas Vegas – is an institution in Essex and we are naturally feeling reflective on how much it has contributed to local life. A lot has changed here over 25 years and we’re proud to continue providing a safe, fun place for locals to spend quality time together.”
image006.jpg
Highlights from the past 25 years include setting the Guinness World Record for Most Princesses Gathered to celebrate the release of classic movie Maleficient back in 2014, and partnerships over the years with Guide Dogs for the Blind and St Luke’s Hospice amongst others.
The annual Superheroes and Villains event, which has taken place on Easter Sunday over the last 10 years, has been enjoyed by thousands of families who have had the opportunity to grab a selfie with characters from the world’s most famous movies, while revving the engines of superstar vehicles including the Batmobile and Knightrider.
Local schools have benefitted from outreach projects the park has hosted – in 2012, local schoolchildren were challenged to build their own version of the Olympic Stadium from recycling materials, highlighting the momentous occasion that was London 2012 while also educating youngsters on recycling. Their efforts were rewarded with cash prizes for the winning schools. In 2019, the 70th Celebrations for Basildon becoming a new town were marked by working in partnership with Basildon Borough Council. image008.jpgChildren were invited to create their vision for 70 years time, with the winning entry buried in a time capsule ready to open in 2089. Every school who took part received £70, which in times of funding challenges was gratefully received by all.
Matthew Chambers continues, “We take great pride in supporting the community – whether by providing space to organisations to promote themselves at the park, making charitable donations to their cause or teaming up to deliver an event, the community programme we deliver is by far our biggest acheivement here. Together with the array of activities everyone can enjoy here, we’re looking forward to the next 25 years being even better!”
Throughout June, daily competitions have run on Festival’s social platforms to say thank you to loyal customers. The Cheers to 25 Years giveaways will see hundreds of lucky winners enjoying free meals out and discounts at their favourite venues, simply by entering the daily competitions. Already, vouchers have been given away for Festival favourites including Wagamama, Sprinkles and Frankies, and in the coming days followers can look forward to chances to win trips to many more including Mr Mulligans, Five Guys and Starbucks.
This week, Festival has also launched the 2023 Community Awards, an annual scheme which recognises and rewards individuals and organisations who make a difference in the community. Nominations for The Awards are open until Wednesday 28th June, when voting will commence online.
Matt concludes, “The Community Awards are the ultimate way of recognising the commitment of those who work so hard amongst us – both at Festival Leisure Park delivering excellent customer service and in our communities, going the extra mile to provide support. I can’t think of a better way to mark our 25th birthday and look forward to handing the awards out to our winners.”
