THERE’ S a little corner of England that’s bringing the epic tale of Britain to life every Saturday over the summer – and I was one of the first to watch their new show.
If you’ve never heard of Kynren in Bishop Auckland, Co Durham, you’re not alone.
I went to the brand new live action show in the UK[/caption]
But this summer spectacle, featuring more than 1,000 performers, animals, historic vehicles, music, special effects and pyrotechnics, has been so successful over its first decade that it’s expanding to include daytime shows and interactive experiences next year.
Over an hour and a half, scenes that tell the tale of our homeland, history and heritage come to life across the 7.5-acre outdoor stage.
The 1,000 professionally trained volunteers might be amateurs, but this incredible cast put on one of the best shows I’ve seen, one that really has to be seen to be believed.
It’s the sort of performance that you could watch time and again and still spot something new every time.
The very high standards of everything at Kynren, from the food and interactive Viking village pre-show to the powerful performance itself with historic Auckland Castle as its backdrop, means I can’t wait to see its next chapter – the Storied Lands, which will open next year and gradually expand to 11 themed villages, all capturing a different era of our isles.
The Victorian village from the much-loved Flambards theme park in Cornwall, which closed last year, will find a new home here.
We even had a sneak peek of what’s to come when the site’s most recent residents, the feathery flock from its bird show, made an appearance before the main performance.
As well as birds of prey, parrots flew overhead and grey crowned cranes flapped in to forage for food on the grass.
The Lost Feather will be one of the first five daytime shows on offer next summer.
My boys aged 12 and 10 were absolutely enthralled by the evening’s entertainment from start to finish.
I think you know you’ve found a real winner when every family member struggles to pick just one scene or moment as their favourite.
The whole event is epic – from Viking ships rising from the water to the recreation of a magnificent stained glass window in the spray of a fountain.
Battle scenes, stunts, celebrations, historic moments, lines from Shakespeare – it’s sometimes difficult to know where to look at there’s so much to take in from one moment to the next.
It was such a high-quality perfromance, I’d say it rivaled a live Disney show too.
I really enjoyed seeing the steam engine chugging along complete with passengers, to mark 200 years of train travel after the launch of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in this very part of the world two centuries ago.
Drawing on the local community is a key part of Kynren, with the warm and welcoming folk at every turn making visitors feel right at home.
If you’re looking for somewhere to stay to make a weekend of it, you can’t beat the Park Head Hotel, part of the Auckland Project, a regeneration scheme that’s breathing new life back into the tourist spots of this historic town.
Our two-bedroom suite was perfect for larger families and there were lots of little nods to Kynren at this recently refurbished 18th-century coaching inn, including quirky Quentin Blake parrot wallpaper in the toilets and a chapel stone from Auckland Castle that put my boys in mind of the story of Arthur and the sword in the stone.
There won’t be any rides at the new Storied Lands, but I’ve no doubt it will have all the wow factor it needs to keep visitors entranced, entertained and immersed in history.
The name Kynren is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word for generations and it suits this awe-inspiring spectacular, rooted in the past, perfect in the present and looking forward to its future.
Tickets cost from £30 per adult and £20 per child – use code July10 to get 10 per cent off if you book before the end of July.
Tickets start from £30[/caption]
