Southend Pier, the ever-popular attraction, has broken its record for Whitsun week with over 50,000 visitors.
This May half-term saw 50,890 visitors to the pier, a huge increase in visitor numbers compared to the same week in 2022 with 19,369.
Part of this huge success was down to El Galeon, a replica 17th century tall ship which was moored at the pier during that time and had over 17,500 people onboard during their visit to the City.
Cllr Derek Jarvis, cabinet member for arts, culture, heritage, and leisure, said: “What remarkable figures for our iconic pier, and in only one week. It’s fantastic to see the pier continue to go from strength to strength and breaking visitor records. This shows that our continued investment in one of our biggest attractions in Southend-on-Sea, is having a positive effect as we continue to welcome more people as the years go by.
“Family-themed events are always a huge hit, and we will continue working tirelessly to ensure that we offer a magnificent programme to our residents and visitors to our City.
“I would like to thank the pier team for their fantastic work in organising and facilitating not only pier visitors, but the El Galeon crew. I hope everyone enjoyed their visit and hope that we get another visit from the El Galeon or one of the organisations other ‘exhibition’ ships in the future.”
The Southend Pier Museum is open Saturday and Sunday from April until October. They remain open for longer during school holidays and during special events. If you’re interested in the history of the pier, it is worth a visit.