Tom Pearcy has unveiled York Maze’s 2026 design as a 100m tribute to David Attenborough, turning a 15-acre field into a giant image for the broadcaster’s 100th birthday. The maze opens to visitors from Saturday 11 July 2026, with seven animal sculptures, six viewing platforms and photo points built into the route.
Tom Pearcy’s 24th maze
Pearcy, York Maze’s creator and a Yorkshire farmer, said he grew up watching David Attenborough’s nature programmes and is honoured to contribute to the 100th birthday celebrations. He also said, “Visitors will be able to go on their own animal adventure through the maze to find the seven animal sculptures hiding amongst the maize plants.”
That hands readers a very specific kind of visit: this is not just a single image cut into crops, but a route-based attraction with things to hunt for on foot. York Maze says the design has been cut with over 5km of pathways through more than a million maize plants, and this is Pearcy’s 24th maze design.
8 Wembley football pitches
The image is 100m in diameter and is said to be the biggest image of David Attenborough ever created. York Maze says the site is believed to be the biggest maze in Europe and one of the largest in the world, which puts the scale of this year’s tribute in context without needing any hype.
The air-view design shows David Attenborough alongside an Elephant, Tiger and a Gorilla, while the ground-level experience adds six viewing platforms and special photo points featuring life-size models of some of the animals associated with Sir David’s nature programmes. York Maze’s previous themes have included Toy Story, The Gruffalo, Lego, Star Wars, Doctor Who and The Lion King.
11 July to 3 September
The Sir David Attenborough 100 years on Planet Earth Maze is listed as open from Saturday 11 July to Thursday 3 September 2026, and the crop will be harvested after that date. The source also says the maze opens on Saturday 11 July and, elsewhere, gives a Thursday 3 July end date before naming Thursday 3 September, so the later date is the one that matches the opening-to-harvest timeline.
For visitors, the practical takeaway is simple: the design is complete, the tribute is set, and the main window to see it runs from 11 July through 3 September 2026. If you want the full maze, not just the aerial image, that is the span that matters.
