In one small corner of the south west of Britain, on the beach of Weston-super-Mare, the reclusive artist Banksy has created the very opposite of what people would normally regard as a theme park.
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“The majority of businesses have been reporting up to 50 percent increases on previous year and as this event overlapped in the most crucial time in the holiday calendar, could well see a further £20,000,000 coming back into the local and regional economy”.
“The show has gone way beyond our hopes”, John Turner, of Visit Somerset, told the BBC. A previous exhibition, “Banksy vs Bristol Museum” generated a large number of crowds because of Banksy’s desire to remain controversial. However, thanks to Dismaland, almost every bed in Weston has been sold each night.
Fearn also highlighted that visitors to the exhibition had come from all over the world, including from the US, Mexico, Hong Kong, China, and Korea.
The irony of an anti-capitalist art show boosting business hasn’t been lost on everyone.
But, Banksy said he chose Weston because “I went there every summer until I was 17”, so perhaps he would feel a little less animosity to small local traders than multi-nationals. “We never take ourselves too seriously”.
Love Weston, the town’s tourism website, had initially estimated a boost of around £7million to the local economy.
People going to Dismaland for its final night of music tomorrow (Friday) will be refused entry if their face is not covered – with Banksy himself rumoured to attend.
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A concert tonight features Pussy Riot and De La Soul among the lineup.
