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Most of the time, people go to theme parks for just one thing: rollercoasters. But this year, the UK is getting a huge new theme park that will offer thrills of an entirely different kind. And it’s one of Time Out’s best new things to do in 2026.
Kynren – The Storied Lands will be the UK’s first live-action historical park. It’s being built in Bishop Auckland and is expected to be ready to open by the summer. Instead of adrenaline-pumping rides and rollercoasters, the park will keep visitors entertained with live shows and immersive experiences that tell tales from Neolithic Britain, the Vikings and Victorian England.
The park comes from the same people behind Kynren – An Epic Tale of England, a magnificent outdoor night show with 1,000 actors depicting major moments in British history on a huge seven and a half acre stage.
At The Storied Lands, there’ll be a big oval-shaped arena designed to resemble a bird’s nest, which will host a ‘The Lost Feather’ bird show with a whopping 300 live feathered friends. There will also be a stunt-filled performance telling the legend of the Lambton Worm, in which a man named John Lambton battles with a giant worm-like creature that has been terrorising local villages. If An Epic Tale of England is anything to go by, you can expect plenty of pyrotechnics too.
The biggest show of them all will be ‘Fina’, which Kynren describes as ‘epic spectacle where medieval knights clash on horseback, and a fearless female warrior’s courage and skill are put to the test in a breathtaking display of horsemanship and daring stunts’. In the future, experiences inspired by Robin Hood, Excalibur and the Tudors will be introduced.
Anna Warnecke, CEO at Kynren, said when the park was announced: ‘This is a game-changer for us and for the UK visitor experience market. For the past decade, we have poured passion and expertise into delivering Kynren – An Epic Tale of England, and now we are bringing that same level of scale, innovation, and magic into this new daytime attraction. You won’t just witness history – you’ll live it, feel it, and be moved by it.’
🇬🇧 Check out all the 16 best new things to do in the UK in 2026.
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