Jerudong Park - History

History

Jerudong Park first opened in 1994.

The King of Pop Michael Jackson performed a free concert at the Jerudong Park Amphitheatre on 16 July, 1996, attended by 60,000 throughout the park. The concert was in celebration of the 50th birthday of Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei and was attended by the Brunei royal family, though the Sultan himself did not attend. Jackson returned to perform another show on New Year's Eve 1997 as part of his HIStory World Tour.

In August 2006, the company began to implement a revitalization program. It started with the re-launching of the GIGGLES, their in-house entertainment team. The team is composed of 7 entertainers from the Philippines and supervised by Wilhelm Bayona (and subsequently works as the Events and Entertainment Coordinator for the Park). They revitalized a program of visiting schools as an outreach activity, then moved on to accepting bookings for private functions and mall events.

In December, management initiated the weekend special program for December featuring local artists as the main performers. The program received good feedback from the local crowd, attracting more than 6,000 people on a single evening.

In 2007, the Park became the venue for a series of activities called Kids' Day. Although the main target was children, it drew families as well because of the "family" factor - the games involved adults such as moms and dads as well. The Giggles also began appearing regularly during activities at the Mall and at shopping centers in the country.

By the end of 2007, the Giggles had made appearances in schools, public events, and party functions. Although the number of entertainment members have dropped considerably from the previous years, the Giggles show now comprises a solid magic show and a bubble show which is the first of its kind in Brunei.

JPCC also saw an increase in events and bookings for the Playground and Amphitheatre. Notable events included the METLIFE 2008 Conference Dinners in April, and the DST Broadband Roadshow in May, and several corporate functions with Blue Waters, HSBC and local organizers.

In late 2008, JPCC launched its Family Concert Nights (later renamed "Local is Best - Family Entertainment Night) featuring local artists. The program aims to provide local talents with a proper venue for their talent, and to create a niche crowd that will support and patronize these performances. The shows are reviewed by a Censorship Board to ensure that they are family friendly and abide by the cultural and religious norms. To date, the venue has hosted performances by A Band Once, L.One, Karacoma, I Mean the Snakes, Zul F and Maria, and performances from schools such as Expression Music School and Ballet Regina.

Tickets to the Playground have been reduced to B$5 for adults and B$3 for children. Single ride tickets are sold at BN$2 per ride. The Musical Fountain, still one of the best in Asia, plays regularly every Wednesdays to Sundays beginning at 7:00 PM and every hour thereafter. Entrance to the Musical Fountain is only B$2. A new schedule has been introduced for the Musical Fountain. The attraction plays at 8:30 and 9:30 PM. It has also been observed that its features, such as the famous Times Square Garden with the Crystal clock and fountain features has been revived.

On December 12, 2009, JPCC Management introduced a new ticket system. Entrance to the Playground was made free, and guests who wanted to use the attractions had the option to buy an $8 4 plus 1 ride ticket, and a $10 5 plus 3 ride ticket. The move has proven to be a big success as it was observed that more people have come to the Park, with family groups comprising a large number of the guests.

By the end of 2010, attendance to the park was up to 144,000 for the entire year. This figures are based on the actual park admittance and ticket sales. Considering that the country has a population of about 400,000, this figure is truly amazing. According to sources in the park, the numbers can be attributed to having more events and activities being done at the park. Efforts from its marketing team. led by Mr. Wilhelm Bayona, Sales and Business Development Manager, Shukria Hj Jolly, supported by the current General manager, hj Mohd Jaafar bin Hj Johari, has seen the park host a number of big events - The Telbru Let's Trek series, Francophonie Week, And Brunei Bike Week, to name a few. It has also opened the Musical Fountain Garden to weddings and functions -

In 2011, the Park bought new attractions and relaunched the park. March 19, 2011 saw the park opening seven new attractions to the public - electric bumper boats, electric road train, a new kind of bumnper car called the Spin Zone, 2 sets of Go karts, one which resembles rally karts, and a two seater go kart, electric scooters and kiddie bouncers. It also held a record breaking attendance of over 70,000 guests for that month alone. So far, attendance has tapered off a bit, but the park has enjoyed one of its better years in terms of attendance.