Puy du Fou UK: Masterplan for Theme Park in Oxfordshire

The selected site for a potential Puy du Fou UK park. © Photo: Puy du Fou (eap) The Puy du Fou group, which is based in the French Vendée and has been operating its show theme park (now also with several hotels) in Les Epesses for several decades and a second Puy du Fou park location in Toledo, Spain since 2021 (c.f. EAP 3/2021), is planning to also expand to the UK. A suitable site for a potential show theme park modelled on the successful French concept has been found near the town of Bicester in Oxfordshire, less than a two hours’ drive from London. A masterplan for the development has been drawn up and will be presented to the local population and all interested parties during public consultation rounds, the first of which takes place now in mid-July and another one will be held towards the end of this year.

“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,” describes the project’s official website. In addition to this concept, which has been successfully implemented at the existing park sites in France and Spain, Puy du Fou aims to convince as a sustainable economic driver for the region around Bicester by creating numerous direct and indirect jobs and a very natural design of the site, among other aspects. The location of the site in the immediate vicinity of the M40 motorway and a railway station with excellent train connections less than a ten minutes’ drive away means that key infrastructure requirements are met – a comprehensive transport concept already provides for numerous shuttle bus connections in addition to parking areas to make it easy for future visitors to travel to and from the site.

As Puy du Fou emphasises, the master plan is at an early stage and will be further developed and evolve over the next months. The initial investment in the potential new park is estimated at around GBP 300 million (more than EUR 350 million). In addition to the two theme park locations in France and Spain (and potentially the UK in the future), Puy du Fou also operates several show formats on an international level, e.g. as part of a collaboration with the Dutch theme park Efteling, and since May this year also in Shanghai in the form of the immersive “SAGA City of Light” experience (c.f. EAP News of 28 May 2024). ■