Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s New Aviktas Ride Opens This Month - And It’s The UK’s Tallest Gyro Swing

Blackpool Pleasure Beach is getting ready to launch one of the UK’s biggest new thrill rides of 2026, with Aviktas set to open this week.

The new attraction is listed as opening on 21 May 2026, meaning guests are now just days away from experiencing a major new thrill ride on the Blackpool seafront.

Aviktas is being billed as the UK’s tallest gyro swing, reaching a height of 138ft as riders are swung high above the park in outward-facing seats.

For Blackpool Pleasure Beach, this is a pretty big statement addition. The park already has one of the most recognisable coaster collections in the country, but Aviktas gives it a new headline flat ride - and one that should be very hard to miss from across the promenade.

What is Aviktas?

Aviktas is a giant gyro swing ride, which means riders sit in a circular gondola with their legs dangling as the ride both swings and rotates.

The ride will seat up to 40 riders at a time, with guests facing outwards as Aviktas swings through a dramatic 120-degree arc. At its highest point, the ride will reach around 138ft, making it significantly taller than other similar swinging pendulum rides currently operating in the UK.

In simple terms, expect height, speed, spinning, airtime and a huge amount of promenade-facing drama.

A major new thrill ride for Blackpool

Blackpool Pleasure Beach has been teasing Aviktas as one of the big new additions for the 2026 season, with VIP preview rides taking place before the official public opening.

The ride’s arrival gives the park a fresh centrepiece attraction for thrillseekers, sitting alongside names like The Big One, Icon, Valhalla, Revolution and Grand National.

It also comes during a notable year for the park, as Blackpool Pleasure Beach continues to celebrate its long history while adding a modern new thrill ride to the line-up.

Amanda Thompson OBE, CEO of Pleasure Beach Resort said: "This isn't just a new ride for Pleasure Beach, it's a completely unique experience to UK theme parks as a whole. We have a history of going big and this certainly is no exception.

"We're in the final stages now. The finishing touches are being added and we're making sure everything is ready for its opening on the 21st."

Part of Pleasure Beach’s 2026 season

Aviktas was originally teased as Project 2026, before the park confirmed the ride’s official name. The attraction represents a major investment for Pleasure Beach Resort, with the park describing it as a colossal new gyro swing positioned proudly on the coastline.

That setting is a big part of what makes this one feel exciting. There are plenty of intense flat rides across the UK, but a 138ft spinning swing ride on the Blackpool seafront is exactly the sort of addition that should feel dramatic before you have even stepped onto it.

It is also the kind of ride that could become instantly recognisable from outside the park. Blackpool Pleasure Beach has always had a skyline that matters, from The Big One towering above the promenade to the park’s dense collection of classic rides and coasters. Aviktas now adds something new to that view.

When does Aviktas open?

Aviktas is currently listed as opening at Blackpool Pleasure Beach on Thursday 21 May 2026.

That means guests do not have long to wait before the new ride officially joins the park’s attraction line-up.

For fans who love a new UK theme park opening, this is one of the biggest dates to keep an eye on this month. A 138ft gyro swing on the Blackpool seafront is exactly the sort of thing that should turn heads - both inside and outside the park.

And honestly, it feels like a very Blackpool Pleasure Beach move. Big, bold, slightly intimidating, and designed to make people on the promenade stop and look up.