A further £10m investment for Dreamland and a new reopening date

A further £10million has been invested in the redevelopment of Dreamland amusement park by  firm Arrowgrass Capital Partners.

The new plans, which include Wi-Fi across the park, a treetop bar, a 15 metre festival-style bar and an expanded [street food] dining offering, means the park will now reopen on May 26 instead of April 28.

Plans for newly restored vintage rides, event spaces and interactive art installations were announced in February, along with a £15million investment from Arrowgrass.

Catered events

Plans for this year also include investment into Dreamland’s back of house areas, including specific facilities for artist-led events such as green rooms and catering, with a new state of the art industrial kitchen which will service both the Hall By The Sea and Ballroom for large catered events, bringing multi-functional use to the event spaces.

The Cinque Ports pub project has also expanded, with well over £1 million being invested to upgrade two floors of the Grade II listed building, returning it to its former 1930s glory.

Land

Following recent acquisitions, Sands Heritage Limited, operator of Dreamland Margate, now owns land and buildings across a 60 metre stretch of Marine Terrace opposite Margate’s  beach.

The investment in Cinque Ports is  the first phase of a major regeneration of the seafront. This also sits alongside the exterior work that Thanet District Council is carrying out on the Dreamland Cinema and the Sunshine Café.

Photo Gavin Kapuscinski

Steven Mitchell, Interim CEO at Dreamland Margate, said: Our plan is to operate a fantastic vintage park that showcases the Scenic Railway and our many other rides alongside destination dining and unique event spaces. We are accelerating some elements of our longer-term plan in order to deliver the best possible experience to our customers in 2017 and to avoid potential future disruption by doing the work in one go.

Photo Gavin Kapuscinski

“To complete the additional improvements, and ensure the fantastic day or night out for customers from the get-go, we have decided to change the opening date for the amusement park by a few weeks to Friday 26 May and we are excited about what we will offer for the Spring Bank Holiday and the school half-term.

“Our outdoor events site will then open, as planned, on 10th June to coincide with the Gorillaz-headlined Demon Dayz festival. Following this, it will be converted into parkland and will re-open in time for the Summer holidays.”

Stars at Demon Dayz Festival

It has also been revealed that a host of stars will appear at the Demon Dayz festival in Margate, including  Noel Gallagher, Mavis Staples, Carly Simon, Grace Jones, De La Soul, Savages’ Jehnny Beth, Pusha T, Danny Brown, Vince Staples, Kelela, and D.R.A.M.

Amphitheatre style seating and a performance stage will form a backdrop to the new Dreamland street food court. Street food will be served from vintage trucks, trendy shacks and 1940s airstreams.

For younger funsters, and to complement the all new Teddy and Betty Land, watch out for celebrity friends Peppa Pig and family, Chase and Marshall from PAW Patrol and Captain Barnacles and Kwazii from the Octonauts all arriving for play dates with Teddy and Betty Bear on special Thursdays throughout the Summer.

The latest update takes the total amount invested by Arrowgrass to £25m.

Find event details here