Why we went to Kynren
Does anyone else’s young child have a borderline unhealthy obsession with leaflets? An overwhelming need to grab as many as their little hands can carry and stuff them into Mum’s bag to use when playing schools later?
Yeah, ours too—and that’s how we discovered Kynren.
Buried among the plethora of leaflets, it caught Dad’s attention. As a history buff, any show promising to tell the story of England had him sold. The fact that it contained real-life horses sold everyone else.
Once we had decided it was something we wanted to do, it was simply a case of finding somewhere nearby to spend the weekend that wouldn’t cost the earth. Camping seemed the obvious answer, with Kynren becoming the centrepiece of the trip.
We mentioned it to some friends who had seen a similar show in France called Puy du Fou, which they had loved. They decided they wanted to come too.
So that was that: two families, not entirely sure what they were going to see, but excited nonetheless. And let me tell you—the leap of faith was well worth it.
What is Kynren?
Nestled deep in County Durham and staged in Bishop Auckland by a cast and crew of more than 1,000 volunteers, Kynren consists of two connected experiences.
Kynren – The Storied Lands is a daytime live-action show park containing five shows and a collection of immersive experiences. Then, on selected evenings, Kynren – An Epic Tale of England brings the day to a close with an enormous outdoor production telling 2,000 years of British history, myth and legend, with a particular connection to the North East.
Sounds a bit like an oversized history lesson, right? Stay with me.
The scale of the night show is epic. Its 7.5-acre stage encompasses open land and a lake, providing an enormous canvas for the performance. To give you some sense of its size, if you were sitting at one end of the grandstand, you would have a hard time following what was happening at the other.
The show includes knights on horseback, fireworks, pyrotechnics and enormous set pieces that appear seemingly from nowhere. The work and dedication that clearly go into the production make it a genuine thing to behold.
The Storied Lands adds another layer to the experience, with reconstructed Viking and Victorian settings where costumed performers interact with visitors and demonstrate chores and activities from the period. We arrived relatively close to the start of the night show, so only scratched the surface of what the daytime park had to offer—but what we did experience gave us plenty to talk about.
Kynren – The Storied Lands
Let’s address this in two stages: logistics and entertainment. We’ll get the boring, sensible stuff out of the way first, then move on to the fun.
Practicalities
We opted to spend the additional £12 to add parking and a shuttle transfer to our tickets—and we were so glad we did, because it made getting into Kynren incredibly easy.
You’re assigned a car park in advance—ours was Green—and from there you can either walk to the venue or take the shuttle. The walk isn’t particularly long, but we have a lazy diva for a daughter, so jumping on the bus was a no-brainer if we wanted to preserve everyone’s sanity.
This isn’t some busted-up minibus trundling backwards and forwards with 20 people at a time, either. We’re talking proper double-decker buses capable of moving a decent number of visitors. Once we had parked, we were straight onto the first bus without any waiting around, and the journey to Kynren took about five minutes.
Don’t judge us. There is a reason we call her Lady Muck.
Getting into the venue was equally straightforward: join the queue, reach the turnstiles, scan your tickets and you’re in. The whole process felt slick and efficient. Despite this being the point at which we first appreciated just how many people were attending, we were through the gates in less than ten minutes.
The main gift shop is close to the entrance, selling the obligatory wooden swords and shields alongside the usual souvenirs. We decided against buying anything for the children because nothing jumped out as a particularly meaningful memento. We might have been tempted by a patch, but there were none to be found.
From the entrance, it’s a short walk to the main arena, with several themed areas branching off for visitors to explore.
That’s enough of the practical stuff. Let’s talk about The Storied Lands.
Our experience of The Storied Lands
Now for the fun stuff.
The grounds contain several themed areas, each with its own activities, displays and actors. The standout for us was undoubtedly the Viking Village.
We knew we were going to love it when we heard the chief shouting at his warband to form a shield wall somewhere in the distance. We couldn’t get through the crowd quickly enough to see what all the commotion was about.
Lo and behold, we were met by a wall of Viking warriors shouting and banging their shields, making quite the ruckus. They were convincing enough that our friends’ youngest found them more than a little intimidating.
After successfully giving the warband the slip, we made our way into the village. It offered a glimpse of everyday Viking life, with actors carrying out traditional chores and demonstrating how things would have been done at the time. You could interact with them too, and they weren’t merely delivering rehearsed performances—they knew their history and had plenty of interesting information to share.
It was during our journey through the village that our youngest was approached by an actor with an offer of marriage to his son, subject to a satisfactory number of teeth in her head. He gave her a runestone, which instantly became a souvenir worth ten times more than the donkey teddy she had previously decided she absolutely needed from the gift shop.
The Viking Village was the main part of The Storied Lands we experienced because we arrived relatively close to the start of the night show. There was also a substantial outdoor play area which the children were disappointed not to have time to explore—and, to be fair, it did look epic.
It was very busy, though. The queue for the slide was almost as long as the one at the turnstiles. That may be slight hyperbole, but you get the idea.
The only other thing we noticed was that seemingly everyone was carrying a box designed to look like an international animal shipping crate. We later discovered that these came from the gift shop at The Lost Feather and contained realistic bird soft toys.
We didn’t get the opportunity to explore The Lost Feather, so I’m not sure what we missed, but its soft toys were clearly popular. They even sold a galah, which spawned the adults’ catchphrase for the rest of the evening:
“You flamin’ galah!”
If you don’t get it, imagine it in an Australian accent.
If you still don’t get it, I can’t help you.
Kynren – An Epic Tale of England
I’m going to do my best to write this without spoilers. There may be a couple of Easter eggs for those in the know, but part of the magic for us was not knowing what was coming next: moments that had us gasping and nudging each other in excitement.
Sitting there before the show, looking across the empty arena, you begin to appreciate the scale of what is about to happen. There is a lot of ground to cover. As daylight slowly faded and Auckland Castle looked down over the arena, excited chatter took over as the anticipation built within us. We each put forward our best theories about how the performance might unfold, based on the layout of the arena and its scenery.
It didn’t take long for us to appreciate the epic scale of Kynren. As the first horse and rider came thundering past the grandstand, we were hooked. Our eldest daughter might even have let out a gleeful yelp as it raced past. She’ll kill me for telling you that—it isn’t cool behaviour, apparently—but I was there. It happened.
From that moment, the production just kept building.
The performers do a fantastic job of synchronising their movements with the recorded dialogue playing through the speakers. At no point did the action feel disjointed or out of step, which is a real credit to everyone involved—and even more impressive when you remember that they are volunteers.
Credit must also go to the special-effects team. The combination of fireworks, lighting and unexpected scene changes brings the performance to life and provides some genuine jaw-on-the-floor moments. This is what gives Kynren its epic, grand feel: a scale that would only be possible outdoors.
Never work with children or animals—that’s the saying, right? I’m glad the people behind Kynren ignored that advice.
The animals were among the standout elements of the show, providing moments of both awe and comedy. The horses had us captivated as they carried knights thundering around the arena, but one also made us chuckle when it decided that standing still on its mark was the last thing it wanted to do. It repeatedly nudged its handler forward while they made a valiant effort to keep it in place.
I will share one small spoiler—although it’s really more of an Easter egg—because they were my favourite part of the entire show.
Look out for the geese. Superstars in the making.
In the interests of honesty, I thought the production was slightly front-loaded with its biggest wow moments. As the story moved through history, the moments that had us audibly gasping became less frequent and it transitioned into more traditional storytelling. That isn’t a criticism of the story, which is told very well, but the most spectacular sequences are weighted towards the beginning.
Even so, we were hanging on every word and movement until the very end. We couldn’t believe how quickly the 90 minutes had passed and were genuinely disappointed when it was over.
Kynren far exceeded everyone’s expectations. The walk back to the shuttle was dominated by people excitedly sharing their favourite moments—with the younger members of our group even attempting a few reenactments of their own.
What did the family think?
That’s enough from me…time for the rest of the gang to share their thoughts.
Kelly had hoped for an evening of exciting historical storytelling on an immense scale. Tick. But her favourite part wasn’t necessarily the stunts or the grand scale. It was watching Ronnie and Quinn’s faces light up whenever something unexpected happened.
She thought the performance took a little while to get going, whilst the show established how the story would be told, but once it did, she was fully invested. She also loved the Viking Village and how believable the performers were. Her only regret was that we hadn’t arrived earlier to experience more of the daytime shows and activities.
Would she go again? Probably not. She felt Kynren was more of an unforgettable one-off than something which would have the same impact a second time. That hasn’t stopped her recommending it to plenty of other people though.
Ronnie expected Kynren to have “circus vibes” and was mainly excited about the horses. She was won over pretty much the moment they came thundering into the arena. Her favourite moment was more Blazing Saddles than big top—I’ll say no more to avoid spoilers. Ronnie gave a special mention to the geese – the understated stars of the show. When you see them, it will make perfect sense.
She didn’t find any of the show boring, although she did have to spend some time figuring out who was who during some of the battles. Never one for crowds and lots of noise, Ronnie’s biggest criticism was that the pre- and post-show areas felt overcrowded and “overstimulating”.
Quinn also chose the horse stunt and the final firework display as her favourite parts. The biggest laugh came from a horse which decided it had absolutely no interest in standing where it was supposed to. Apparently, the only boring part of the evening was waiting for the performance to start. Once it got going, she was hooked and would happily go again.
So there you have it: three recommendations, two daughters won over by horses and one family still talking about the geese.
Tips for a first trip to Kynren
How much did Kynren cost us?
When we visited in 2026, Deluxe seats—positioned just below the VIP tier—cost £51 per adult and £41 per child. Dad was trying to save money again, but this time it paid off. The seats were still excellent, and choosing them over VIP shaved a little off the overall cost. We also paid £12 for parking, which included the shuttle transfer. That brought the total cost for our family of four to £196.
Get there early enough to explore The Storied Lands
There is plenty for families to experience in The Storied Lands before the night show begins, so it’s worth arriving early and giving yourself enough time to make the most of it.
Take cushions
This is something we didn’t do, but plenty of people around us did. The grandstand seats can become uncomfortable after a while, so thin dining-chair cushions would take the edge off without being too cumbersome to carry.
Dress for the end of the show, not the beginning
The performance runs into the night and the temperature does drop. Bring jumpers and coats to make the wait for the shuttle—or the walk back to your car—considerably less torturous.
Choose your seats carefully
We didn’t stump up for the ultra-posh VIP seats, but we did choose Deluxe—the tier immediately below—and selected seats as close to the centre as possible. This gave us a great vantage point across the enormous arena and ensured we didn’t miss anything happening at either end.
Be prepared for a slow exit
Be prepared to be herded like cattle as you leave the grandstand. You are carried along in a very large crowd, where it could be easy to become separated if you aren’t careful—particularly if you are visiting with children.
Getting out of the car park was also a nightmare. We sat without moving for around 15 minutes while waiting to join the main exit route. Impatience eventually got the better of us and we found an alternative way out, which was much quicker. Your experience may depend on which car park you are assigned, but don’t plan on making a speedy getaway.
Was Kynren worth it?
Kynren was everything we hoped it would be and more. At £196 for our family of four—including Deluxe seats, parking and the shuttle—the performance alone justified what we paid. I can only imagine that arriving earlier and experiencing more of The Storied Lands would add even more value and ensure you really get your money’s worth.
In our opinion, it’s something which would appeal to a raft of people: history buffs, families or anyone who appreciates live performance and the arts. You’d be hard pushed not to find something to enjoy.
That being said, anyone who struggles with large crowds, loud noises or sensory overload may find parts of the experience challenging—particularly the busy pre-show areas and the mass exodus at the end of the night.
Would we go again? I’m not sure. Kynren feels like an amazing one-off experience rather than something which would have the same impact when repeated. It’s a bit like rewatching a film: the first time it grabs you because you don’t know what’s coming, but each repeat becomes a game of diminishing returns.
Would we recommend experiencing it at least once though? Without hesitation.