Stories
For 50 years, we've collected a tapestry of fascinating Funderland stories!
While Funderland has experienced many milestones over the last 50 years, we have lots of Stories to tell. We have carefully selected a few to share which we hope you will enjoy.
Headline Sponsor
Funderland was fortunate to secure a headline sponsor for the Glohealth Christmas Wonderland event presented in the RDS from 6th December 2013 to 12th January 2014 marking the 40th year of Funderland in the RDS. A competition to select a mascot resulted in the Artic Fox being the ideal choice. It was a complete festival of family entertainment from iSkate Ireland’s largest ice rink, to the foods of a Continental Christmas market and included Funderland, a special Santa’s Christmas Circus, an adventure through Jingle Town, the famous Custard Pie puppet company and award winning international illusionist Guy Barrett It was a festival to delight the senses and capture the joy and fun of the Christmas season – all in one location at the RDS.
Schwarzkopf Roller Coaster
Anton Schwarzkopf was a German engineer who founded Schwarzkopf Industries GmbH. Among the many amusement rides they designed and manufactured was their looping star roller coaster. Funderland acquired this rollercoaster - named the SHOCKWAVE and presented it at the RDS venue in 2007. This behemoth was transported on 18 artic trailers, it took a whole week to assemble. It stood almost 25 meters high, had a track length of 592 meters and reached speeds of 77 kilometres an hour. In 2007 Funderland also celebrated the 10 millionth customer to visit the Dublin event.
Mr Richard Bannister (www.themeparks.ie) caught this very impressive photograph of it dominating the space outside the Simmonscourt extension of the RDS.
Fliegender Teppich
1986 saw the introduction of the Fliegender Teppich (Flying Carpet) attraction from Germany. It proved to be so popular among our patrons that it became a regular feature of Funderland in Dublin, Belfast and Cork for many years.
The Millennium Event
To mark the turn of the millennium, Funderland secured the breathtaking Power Tower. Although very few people realised that the combination of the Giant Wheel and Power Tower was intended to signal the dawn of a new millennium, the Power Tower attracted huge crowds to the 2000/01 event.
Also, President Mary McAleese personally hosted a visit to Funderland for very special guests in 2000. People with mild to profound physical and mental disabilities were able to experience the attractions which were specially adapted to ensure the guests enjoyed themselves.
Funderland RDS 2004
To mark the 30th anniversary of Funderland a schools poster competition was conducted nationwide. The winner was invited to bring the entire class to the event where the red carpet was rolled out to greet them and they got treated to a complimentary visit complete with Pop Corn and Candy Floss. The winning entrant was the 1st Year students at Causeway Comprehensive, Causeway, Co Kerry.
Living Cultural Heritage
On 4th August 2021, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD, extended the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage to give State recognition to a further 8 key practices of Ireland’s Living Cultural Heritage of which Irish Traditional Travelling Circus and Funfair was added.
At the announcement, Minister Martin said:
“These eight living cultural heritage practices require knowledge and skill, and foster our sense of community and place. These practices thrive through the dedicated communities who sustain and pass on their skills and way of life to succeeding generations ensuring the continuance of these important traditions. Official State recognition and inscription onto the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural will raise awareness of these practices and traditions.”
nationalinventoryich.tcagsm.gov.ie/irish-traditional-travelling-circus-and-funfair/