That Giant Main Street Waterslide In Bristol Actually Happened

Following whispers, conjecture, rumours and a crowd-funding campaign, residents of Bristol have at long last been reminded that all you really need to maximise summer fun is a hose, a tarp, and a bottle of dishwashing liquid. The giant waterslide running smack bang down the middle of one of Bristol’s main streets has actually come to fruition, providing residents with the kind of excited buzz not seen since Bananarama‘s last home town gig.

Far from being your standard, run-of-the-mill Crocodile Mile in the backyard of Aunty Sue’s house on a balmy Australia Day afternoon, the Bristol slide runs to a total length of 295 feet, or around 90 metres. Bristol residents, summoning the stiff British upper lip of yore, have been boldly flinging themselves down the slide, head first, atop lilos all day long.
The project, the brainchild of conceptual artist Luke Jerram, is only running for one single, solitary, perfect day. And demand for sliding spots is sky-high, with nearly 100,000 people applying for a limited number of tickets.
The slide itself is fiendishly clever in design; quite literally a long stretch of tarpaulin bordered either side by lines of hay bales, and lubricated by the tried and true method of water and liberal splashes of Morning Fresh.
Though your chances to participate in the experiment are growing slimmer by the minute, with the slide set to close for good at 5pm Bristol time, there’s theoretically not a lot stopping you from raiding Dad’s garage for any plastic sheeting you can get your hands on and cracking open a fire hydrant on George Street. Well, nothing except… y’know… the law, probably. But there’s not a jury in the world that would convict you for being totally badass.

Photo: Matt Cardy via Getty Images.


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