Festival Leisure Park, off Cranes Farm Road in the north of Basildon, is one of the town's best-known entertainment destinations. Today it is filled with restaurants, a cinema, bowling, family entertainment and fitness facilities, but the site has changed dramatically over the last half-century. Before the present leisure park existed, the land was associated with Aquatels, Basildon's zoo and recreation complex, and later Festival Hall.
The story begins in the early 1970s. Aquatels Zoo and Ecology Centre opened at Pipps Hill Close in 1973 as part of a much larger leisure venture. The surrounding Aquatels development included a country club, a large man-made fishing lake, squash courts, sauna, tennis courts, an indoor swimming pool, a nine-hole golf course and driving range, riding stables and a practice dry ski slope.
The nearby Treble Chance public house was also part of the project. The split-level pub opened in 1973 and became a popular entertainment venue. The modern Quays pub now occupies the site associated with the former Treble Chance.
Aquatels was an ambitious attempt to create a major recreation destination on the northern edge of the growing New Town. It provided activities that were very different from Basildon's town-centre shopping and traditional parks. The zoo, however, did not survive permanently and closed in the late 1970s.
After the zoo closed, part of its former accommodation was given a new purpose. In July 1982 Festival Hall opened on the site. Remarkably, the building had been converted from the former reptile house at a reported cost of £15,000.
Festival Hall could accommodate up to about 1,500 people and became one of the largest venues of its type in south-east Essex. It was used for presentations, election counts, concerts, boxing and other large events. During the 1980s it also hosted the MFI World Matchplay darts championship.
The hall kept the site in public use after the zoo era had ended, but by the 1990s much more ambitious plans were being prepared for the land. Festival Hall was demolished in 1996 to clear the way for the modern leisure development.
The location was well suited to a large leisure complex. It contained a substantial amount of open or under-used land, including the old Aquatels grounds, Festival Hall and a large car-parking area. It was also close to Cranes Farm Road and the A127, allowing visitors to arrive from across Basildon and the wider Essex area without travelling through the pedestrianised town centre.
Planning permission was granted for a comprehensive leisure, industrial and ancillary commercial development in the mid-1990s. The new leisure park was developed across a site of around 100 acres at a reported cost of approximately £35 million.
Festival Leisure Park began opening attractions during 1997. TGI Friday's was among the first, followed by businesses including Icon nightclub, Hollywood Bowl, Special Reserve, The Honeypot, Fatty Arbuckle's, Chuckle City and the UCI cinema.
Hollywood Bowl opened with 26 bowling lanes, an amusement arcade, café and licensed bar. The UCI multiplex opened in July 1997 with 12 screens and seating for nearly 3,000 people. The wider park was officially opened in September 1997.
The scale of the development made it one of the most important additions to Basildon's leisure facilities since the New Town was created. Instead of travelling to separate locations for a meal, cinema, bowling or nightlife, visitors could find all of them together on one large site.
The cinema has remained one of Festival Leisure Park's principal attractions, although its operator has changed several times. The original UCI operation became part of Odeon in 2004. The cinema was acquired by Empire Cinemas in 2006 and later became Cineworld in 2017 following Cineworld's acquisition of several Empire sites.
Food and drink gradually became an increasingly important part of Festival. In 2011 Basildon Council granted permission for four additional café and restaurant units forming a new Festival Leisure Park Plaza. The work also involved changes to the car park, pedestrian areas, taxi facilities, lighting and landscaping.
Further public-realm improvements followed, including resurfacing, security measures, alterations to building fronts and improvements around the entrance. This helped modernise a development that was already approaching two decades old.
Festival remains a major Basildon destination. Its current entertainment offer includes Cineworld, Hollywood Bowl, Mr Mulligan's, 360 Play and fitness and gymnastics facilities. A Travelodge also provides accommodation on the park.
Cineworld
A multi-screen cinema showing mainstream film releases and special screenings. The cinema continues the role begun by UCI when Festival first opened.
Hollywood Bowl
Ten-pin bowling and amusement arcade entertainment. Hollywood Bowl is one of the original names associated with the 1997 development and remains at Festival today.
Mr Mulligan's
Indoor adventure golf and entertainment, aimed at families and groups.
360 Play
Family entertainment and indoor play facilities for children.
Better Gym / Gymnastics facilities
Fitness and sporting facilities add another form of leisure use beyond cinema, restaurants and family entertainment.
The modern park contains a large collection of restaurants and takeaway businesses. Current names advertised by Festival include Wagamama, Wingstop, Wendy's, PizzaExpress, Five Guys, Nando's, Slim Chickens and TGI Friday's, alongside other food and drink businesses.
TGI Friday's is particularly notable because it was one of the earliest businesses to open when the new leisure park was being completed in 1997. Its continued presence provides a direct link between the original Festival Leisure Park and the site visitors know today.
Festival Leisure Park became widely known locally as “Bas Vegas”. The nickname became closely associated with the bright lights, cinema, nightlife, restaurants and entertainment concentrated on the site. Whatever its origins, the name has become part of Basildon's popular vocabulary and is still commonly used when referring to Festival.
The leisure park has therefore had several distinct lives: zoo and recreation complex, Festival Hall, and finally the large entertainment destination that opened in 1997. The surrounding land has an equally important industrial history, which continues on Page 2.