On Saturday the 7th of March at the Grand Gala Night of the TEA, The Thea Awards 2009, which are the Oscars(R) of the Attraction Park industry are presented to the winners in their various categories.
Among them Jan Maarten de Raad, managing director of
Jora Vision, a company seated in Rijnsburg, The Netherlands. Jora Vision was made the award for the development of a totally new and innovative variant of the well-known Midget Golf.
A former tennis hall at Park Molenheide in Belgium is converted by Jora Vision into a Midget Golf Course with a story called “The Forgotten Mine”. Players are during their game not only confronted with coal, but also with gold, diamonds, explosives, and even a breeding ground of dinosaurs. However, in the end the winner remains the person with the fewest strokes for the round.
Jan Maarten de Raad (
far right) received the Thea sculpture together with Mr. Marc Vanherk (
near right), owner of Park Molenheide.
Among the other winners of a Thea Award were the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics at Beijing in the category “Events Spectacular”, the Airforce One Discovery Center with the Ronald Reagan Library in the category “Learning Experience”, Finding Nemo, the musical in the category “Live Shows” and the Newseum in Washington in the category “Museum”.
The other European winner, BeWilderwood in Norfolk (U.K.) also received a Thea Award, in the category “Limited Budget Attractions” for attractions with a budget less than one million dollars.
Overall, there were 120 nominees selected from the 200 competitors. From these only 15 were awarded with the “Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement”, this being the official name of the prize.
See also:
Themed Entertainment Association Hosts Annual Industry Summit and Thea Awards Gala March 6-7 in Anaheim
Themed Design : Air Force One Discovery center Wins 15th Annual THEA Award
Themed Entertainment Association Announces 15th Annual Thea Awards Recipients