As part of Skip the Queue’s mini-series celebrating 90 years of BALPPA, Andy Povey is joined by Anna Warnecke, CEO of Kynren and 11Arches, to explore an attraction unlike any other in the UK. Anna shares the story behind Kynren, its spectacular open-air night show performed by around 1,000 local volunteers, and the newly opened Kynren: The Storied Lands. They discuss what happens when live theatre and immersive experiences meet the attractions industry, including the challenges of managing capacity, visitor flow and dwell time, as well as the lessons learned from launching a brand-new day park.
In this episode of Skip the Queue, Andy Povey is joined by Anna Warnecke, CEO of Kynren in Bishop Auckland - an attraction that doesn't really look like anything else in the UK.
Kynren began in 2016 as an open-air night show telling 2,000 years of English history on a seven-and-a-half-acre stage, performed by a cast and crew of a thousand local volunteers, and built as part of a wider mission to regenerate a County Durham market town.
This July, it went a step further and opened Kynren - The Storied Lands, a daytime park built entirely around live shows and immersive experiences rather than rides.
They talk about what changes when your product is performance rather than throughput, what an experience-led attraction can teach a traditional operated site, and what the first few weeks of a brand new park have really been like.
This episode is part of Skip the Queue’s mini-series celebrating 90 years of BALPPA, looking at the people and businesses shaping the UK attractions industry.
Show references:
Anna Warnecke — CEO, Kynren
Skip the Queue is brought to you by Merac. We provide attractions with the tools and expertise to create world-class digital interactions. Very simply, we're here to rehumanise commerce. Your host is Andy Povey.
If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website SkiptheQueue.fm.
If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on LinkedIn.
Credits:
Written by Laura Baxter (YourCMO)
Edited by Steve Folland
Produced by Emily Burrows and Sami Entwistle (Plaster)