The Applause Award celebrates Ruby Jubilee

By | July 10, 2020

The Applause Award is the theme- and amusement parks industry’s oldest and most prestigious award. So far, 19 outstanding parks have received the award. This year it is 40 years since the very first Applause Award was presented. To commemorate the anniversary year of the award, a new anniversary logo is now being introduced.

40 years have passed since Disney’s Dick Nunis received the very first Applause Award statuette, and in conjunction with the IAAPA Expo in November 2020, the 20th winner be announced.

The origins of the Applause Award is a somewhat unusual story. The idea was hatched in 1979 by Boo Kinntorph , then CEO of the relatively unknown Swedish amusement park Liseberg.

The award was named the Liseberg Applause Award and was presented for the first time in 1980, in conjunction with the IAAPA Expo in New Orleans. The historic first winner of The Applause Award was Walt Disney Productions for Magic Kingdom.

The statuette, made in bronze by prominent Swedish sculptor Astri Bergman Taube, depicted two applauding hands that came to symbolize the reverence and respect the industry colleagues showed the winners.

The prize has ever since been presented every second year. In the beginning, most of the winners were from the USA, but in 1990 the North American dominance was broken when German Europa-Park entered the history books as the first European winner.

18 years later, it was time for the next continent to be included, when Xetulu in Guatemala was named winner in 2008, and in 2012 Ocean Park was the first Asian park to receive the award.

“The Applause Award is one of the most prestigious awards in our industry, and it is a privilege and honour to continue to sponsor the award”, says Andreas Veilstrup Andersen, CEO and President at Liseberg. “The role of the award is not just to celebrate the very best in the world, but also to also inspire and encourage other industry players”.

The Ruby Jubilee of the Applause Award will be celebrated November 17, 2020 – and is marked with a new 40th anniversary logo. Throughout 2020, the Applause Award website will be updated with new material on the awards history as well as previous winners.