As part of Skip the Queue’s mini-series celebrating 90 years of BALPPA, Andy Povey is joined by Eddie Kemsley, CEO of Dreamland Margate, to discuss how one of the UK’s oldest amusement parks has reinvented itself. Eddie shares how Dreamland has expanded beyond rides into live music, events, weddings and film productions, and how diversification has shaped the business and its role in Margate’s revival. The episode also explores heritage, the attractions community and what the future could hold for this unique seafront venue.
In this episode of Skip the Queue, Andy Povey is joined by Eddie Kemsley, CEO of Dreamland in Margate – one of the oldest surviving amusement park in the country, and one of the most reinvented.
Dreamland dates back to 1880. It closed in 2003, and reopened in 2015 as a vintage amusement park. Since then it has become something harder to categorise: a park, a six-and-a-half-thousand capacity outdoor music venue, an indoor events space, a wedding venue and a filming location, all on sixteen acres of seafront.
At the end of 2023, LN-Gaiety - the Live Nation and Gaiety Investments joint venture - took a controlling stake in the business.
Eddie now leads the boutique festival side of the business, she has served on BALPPA's Management Committee and still sits on the marketing sub-committee, helping shape the association's marketing seminars.
They talk about diversification as strategy rather than accident, what the events and filming side really contributes, and what the industry network gives an operator who sits beyond the usual categories.
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:
Eddie Kemsley - CEO Dreamland, Margate
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Credits:
Written by Laura Baxter (YourCMO)
Edited by Steve Folland
Produced by Emily Burrows and Sami Entwistle (Plaster)