Banksy’s Dismaland opens

Described as “the UK’s most disappointing new visitor attraction”, this dark parody of Disneyland is the latest project of British street artist Banksy. The famous ‘guerilla’ artist first appeared 20-years ago in the UK, where his political and often provocative work quickly made him the biggest name in the international street-art scene.

For five weeks only, catch over 50 artists from the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. The line-up features big names, including American artist Jenny Holzer, Britain’s Damien Hirst, and David Shrigley, Saudi Arabia’s Huda Beydoun, Syria’s Tammam Azzam, Palestine’s Sulaiman Mansour and Shadi Alzaqzouq. There are three galleries, tents, dozens of installations, an open-air cinema showing short films and bands like Massive Attack and The Savages will perform in the coming weeks.

The ‘anarchy-infused theme park’ features an interesting take on Cinderella, in which the princess-to-be hangs from the window of her overturned carriage, with little sparrows attempting to lift her limp and presumably dead figure. Paparazzi snap photos of the scene. Other notable artworks include the Little Mermaid, a statement piece about Britain’s current political leadership, boats full of refugees in a pond providing an interesting twist to the “it’s a small world after all” theme, and much more.

Dismaland is now open to the public everyday from 22nd August – 27th September 2015. Tickets can be purchased on the door from 9am on Saturday and Sunday, and then online from Tuesday the 25th. Admission is £3 and free for the under 5’s and you can book a time slot for guaranteed entry.

On a side note, the website clearly states that the following are strictly prohibited in the Park – spray paint, marker pens, knives and legal representatives of the Walt Disney Corporation.

Dismaland is situated on the seafront in legendary Weston-super-Mare and is easily accessible by train, bus and road. Marine Parade BS23 1BE