Welcome to this month’s round-up of Extraordinary Experiences across all experience sectors and around the globe.
It’s April already, and, as the mercury rises in the Northern Hemisphere, this year’s experiential activations are also heating up. In Japan the great and good of the design world will be flocking to Osaka for the Expo 2025, which will be shining a light on sustainability and how to create a brighter future for all. We love the sound of the fully accessible UK Pavilion, designed by Immersive International, which has spatial storytelling at its heart.
In the UK, the WXO will be hosting London Experience Week at Phantom Peak, which will unite the cream of the world’s experience designers and Experience Economy thought leaders for five fruitful days of learning, designing and connecting in one of the globe’s most important experience hubs. With hands-on workshops, over 50 global speakers, and the chance to network with 500 experience innovators at evening socials, it’s going to be epic.
Experiences with purpose abound this month, from Cuida’ls at Barcelona Zoo, which seeks to raise awareness about biodiversity conservation and the need to preserve species, to You: Matter, Marshmallow Laser Feast’s new show in Bradford – the 2025 UK City of Culture – which aims to help visitors gain a deeper understanding of their personal connection to the universe through projection mapping, immersive sound and video installations.
In France VR is being used to great effect, with Versailles offering history buffs a fascinating glimpse into what its gardens looked like during the reign of the Sun King, and VR venue Eclipso in Paris taking viewers back to Carcassonne in 1304, giving them the chance to amble around the city’s medieval fortress and its just-completed ramparts. With Versailles proving that even the most ancient of venues can be down with the kids, it’s an exciting example of how cutting-edge tech is being used to bring the past vividly to life for a new generation.
18. Jacquemas Bowling Pop-Up
Open now until 2 April
Location: Dallas, US
Experience Sector: Experiential Retail
Taking the concept of experiential retail to spinning new heights, luxury French fashion brand Jacquemus has installed a fully functioning bowling alley inside Neiman Marcus’ NorthPark store in Dallas. Housed in a space within the store dedicated to pop-ups, the lemon yellow bowling alley includes two lanes where fashionistas can compete for the title of kingpin. The playful initiative, which also includes vibrant window displays, is a savvy promotional tool for Jacquemus’ new Le Petit Turismo bowling bag, and an interesting example of how retailers are leaning on experiences to sell their wares by creating interactive brand environments.
Marking Jacquemus’ first immersive brand experience in Dallas, to celebrate the launch of the pop-up, Neiman Marcus hosted a cocktail party inside the installation, where guests got to strike it lucky while perusing the latest handbags in the display area of the shop. “By blending fashion with experiential retail, we’re creating an environment that not only showcases incredible product, but also deepens the connection between our customers and the brand in an unexpected, engaging way,” says Neiman Marcus’ VP of luxury fashion, Jodi Kahn. We expect to see more brands creating similar opps for consumer engagement.
17. Subterranean Elevator
Open now until 20 December 2025
Location: Liverpool, UK
Experience Sector: Immersive Art
Don’t let the name confuse you – Subterranean Elevator at the Williamson Art Gallery in Liverpool has nothing to do with lifts. Created by artist Di Mainstone, and developed with a team of inter-disciplinary specialists, the interactive installation invites you to get your hands dirty, and while doing so, explore the inner worlds of soil and the subconscious mind. Essentially a sand pit for adults, the artwork aims to deepen our understanding of biodiversity and highlight the importance of the need to act now to reverse the effects of climate change.
The shoes off experience sees you enter a dark, box-shaped space filled with sand (used to mimic soil), where you can sit, stand or jump right in. As you metaphorically descend into the earth, you’re greeted by a host of hypnotic projections and a curated soundscape to create the feeling of a deep dive into the earth. Mainstone has coined the term ‘Subnosis’ to describe the journey, in which “surreal subterranean creatures flourish among fleeting thoughts that lead us into an interior universe”. An experience that can be enjoyed collectively or alone, the hope is for people to rediscover their connection to all living things.
16. Lost Gardens Of The Sun King
Open now until 4 January 2026
Location: Versailles, France
Experience Sector: Virtual Reality
Proving even the most ancient of venues can be down with the kids, the palace of Versailles has launched a new virtual reality experience that transports visitors back to 1682, where they will be joined by Louis XIV’s gardener, André Le Nôtre, and taken on a guided tour of the gorgeous groves and gardens of the palace that sadly no longer exist. Co-produced by Gedeon Experiences, Small Creative and VIVE Arts, Lost Gardens of the Sun King gives history buffs a fascinating glimpse into the past brought vividly to life through the power of VR.
Donning a Focus Vision mobile headset, visitors can explore iconic areas of the gardens that have now disappeared, and will be able to get up close and personal with the exotic animals inside the royal menagerie, amble around the Labyrinth Grove and its magnificent fountains, and explore the grotto of Thetis with its exquisite rocaille décor. History buffs will gain a deeper understanding of how the Sun King used the arts, architecture and nature to affirm his power and the splendour of his reign. The VR journey was created with the help of archival documents, testimonies from Versailles experts, and archaeological remains.
15. TeamLab Phenomena
Opens: 18 April 2025
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
Hellbent on experiential world domination, Tokyo-based art collective teamLab are due to open their latest venue – teamLab Phenomena – in Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Cultural District this month. Spanning 17,000-square-metres, the purpose-built structure operated by Miral Experiences and will include a host of large-scale interactive exhibits that engage all the senses. New for Abu Dhabi is ‘Massless Suns and Dark Suns’, where spheres of light and darkness meet to challenge perceptions of reality. Another one to look out for is ‘Levitation Void’, which features a moving black circle that’s born and maintained by its environment.
TeamLab’s second outpost in the Middle East is a permanent space for experimental installations that evolve with their surroundings, creating an ever-changing, multi-sensory experience. Rather than fixed and finished creations, the artworks change in response to external conditions, making each visit a unique and evolving encounter. Inspiring creative exploration at the intersection of art, science, and technology, the venue blends high-tech digital art to create alternative forms of perception. It joins the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Natural History Museum, and the soon-to-open Guggenheim in the Saadiyat Cultural District.
14. The Gantry At LC-39
Open now
Location: Florida, US
Experience Sector: Immersive Learning
Florida’s Kennedy Space Center is blasting off with a series of new initiatives this spring, with the aim of taking aspiring astronauts closer to space than ever before. Among them is the opening of The Gantry at LC-39; an interactive attraction that reimagines the observation gantry at Launch Complex 39, offering awe-inspiring 360° views of active launch pads, NASA’s spaceport and the surrounding wildlife refuge. Exploring the vital relationship between technology and nature, The Gantry’s central theme is ‘Off Earth, For Earth’, underscoring NASA’s ongoing mission to protect the Earth through space exploration.
The activation includes a rocket launch viewing area with a giant LED screen; an immersive theatre show; and an interactive gallery showing how the planet is changing in ways that affect all life on Earth. Visitors to The Gantry can design and virtually launch rockets to experience the buzz of space flight from a launch site within view of Kennedy Space Center’s working space ports. It’s also home to various gamified experiences and a test fire simulation, where you can stand under a full-scale rocket engine as it simulates a static fire test, with the rocket’s roar, flashing light, and a cooling mist adding to the visceral thrill of take-off.
13. NEON
Opens: Spring 2025
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
London is abuzz with experiential venues, and we’re particularly excited about Battersea newcomer NEON, an ambitious events space within Battersea Power Station created by the global leader in immersive exhibitions. The venue will bring NEON’s renowned experiences to the capital in the first-ever purpose-built entertainment and cultural exhibition space in central London. The site will showcase cherry-picked experiences from NEON’s repertoire, including Machu Picchu, the Golden Empires of Peru, and Jurassic World: The Exhibition.
NEON will hold two exhibitions each year and is expected to become a landmark destination. Each of its shows is created in-house and is one-of-a-kind on an expansive scale, with nearly a million people visiting its collection of international content each year. As part of its commitment to the local community, NEON will distribute 5,000 free tickets to local schools, ensuring students can benefit from the educational opportunities the exhibitions bring. An additional 1,000 tickets will be given to charities, community organisations and youth groups.
12. Cuida‘ls
Open now
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Experience Sector: Immersive Learning
Hoping to raise awareness about biodiversity conservation and the need to preserve species, Barcelona Zoo has launched a new interactive space. Called Cuida’ls, the educational experience teaches visitors about the challenges faced by wildlife, while showcasing conservation efforts through cutting-edge tech and interactive storytelling. The initiative cost €1.1 million and was partially funded by the Spanish government. Targeted at both children and adults, the 230 square meter installation is divided into three sections.
In the first, digital avatars Alba, a zookeeper, and her otter companion, guide guests on a journey through time, exploring the evolution of ecosystems and the dangers posed by human activities such as poaching and habitat destruction. The second room shifts its focus to real-world conservation challenges and solutions. Digital and interactive displays present cases of illegal wildlife trade and highlight the role of law enforcement agencies in combating animal trafficking. The final section invites visitors to participate in conservation efforts.
11. Expo 2025 Osaka
Opens: 13 April 2025 until 13 October 2025
Location: Osaka, Japan
Experience Sector: Live Events
All eyes will be on Osaka in this month, as the Japanese city will launch Expo 2025. Running with the theme ‘Designing Future Society for Our Lives’, the world expo will showcase innovations, technologies and cultural achievements from participating countries with the aim of inspiring the international community to collaborate in creating a more sustainable society and a brighter future for all. Alongside the striking architectural pavilions, Expo 2025 will host various cultural and artistic initiatives and events, including an Art Expo, featuring over 300 fountains and water and air shows that will tell stories of the elements through light and sound performances.
Within the Forest of Tranquility installations will showcase the healing power of nature, and in the Expo Hall projection mapping tech will be in full flow. Sustainability and innovation will play a prominent role in the event’s agenda, with the Future Society Showcase Project Exhibition highlighting cutting-edge technologies and concepts, and the Green Expo demonstrating environmental initiatives to remove C02 from the atmosphere.
Proving it’s at the cutting-edge of experiential developments, spatial storytelling is at the heart of the UK pavilion. Mapping, interactive gamification, dynamic lighting and spatial sound installations all form part of the ‘Come Build the Future Exhibition’ at the fully accessible pavilion, designed by ES Global and Woo Architects. An immersive journey created by Immersive International follows Kenji, a Japanese father exploring the UK’s creative culture, and his daughter Mei, whose imagination brings PIX, the pavilion’s mascot to life.
10. Race Across The World
Opens: Spring 2025
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Competitive Socialising
Fans of the hit TV show Race Across The World can live the dream IRL thanks to a new experience in London that brings the concept to life. Condensing a series of excitement into a three-hour adventure, Race Across The World: The Experience challenges participants to ditch their phones and test their knowledge of The Big Smoke. Taking place across 3.1 miles, the experience sees you roam the capital unlocking hidden secrets of the city in a tense race to the finish line. You’ll need a minimum of two people and a maximum of eight to take part.
Creators CityDays and All3 Media have stayed faithful to the basic elements of the show, such as the budgeting, strategy, and teamwork, but brace yourself for a few surprises. Competitors have to race against the clock, exploring hidden gems and iconic London institutions. Along the way, puzzles will guide you to the next leg of the race. At the end, you’ll be scored on your completion time and remaining budget. If you do particularly well, your team could be crowned weekly champions. Public transport is forbidden!
9. EmotionAir
Open now until 7 September 2025
Location: San Francisco, US
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
While it’s easy to think that the Balloon Museum may have an overly-inflated opinion of itself, its latest exhibition at San Francisco’s iconic Palace of Fine Arts, seeks to explore the ways in which art can enhance mood, celebrating its power to evoke emotions and elicit reactions. The immersive experience highlights the surprising potential of inflatables as a creative medium via large-scale installations, light shows and playful environments that blend light, colour, and air in unexpected ways. The inflatable artworks serve as mirrors through which to explore the profound relationship between art and emotions, action, and reaction.
Among the 22 featured artists are: Mónica Casarini, Cyril Lancelin, Motorefisico, Quiet Ensemble and Max Streicher, who reimagine what inflatables can do in the world of art and experience design via works such as the mesmerising ‘Hyperfeeling’, and colourful ‘Synchronized Chaos’. Through a mix of interactive installations, emotional projections, and performance art, EmotionAir takes visitors on a sensory journey where touch and play are actively encouraged, and in the process, sparks feelings of joy and wonder.
8. Disney Gardens Of Wonder
Open now
Location: Singapore
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
Speaking of wonder, we love the sound of this blooming marvellous show in Singapore, which strikes us a being like Chelsea Flower Show for kids. Taking place at themed attraction Flora Fantasy at Gardens by the Bay, Disney Garden of Wonder features large-scale topiary and floral sculptures of beloved Disney characters. Supported by the Singapore Tourism Board, the show reimagines Disney and Pixar favourites, including Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, The Little Mermaid, and Woody from Toy Story, as enchanting floral displays.
A Disney World tradition dating back to its earliest incarnation, Disney-themed topiaries are firm fan favourites. Inspired by the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, the Singapore show offers its own take on these horticultural curiosities, bringing topiary sculptures of cherished characters closer to home for fans of all ages. Look out for a floral take on OG Mickey Mouse, Steamboat Willie. You can venture under the sea at the Ariel-inspired display, or go to infinity and beyond with Buzz Lightyear at the Toy Story exhibit.
7. Right Before We Wake
Open now until 30 June 2025
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Immersive Art
Not one to rest on its laurels, London’s Frameless is springing into April with a series of new activations, including ‘Right Before We Wake’, a new show by British multi-disciplinary artist Claire Luxton. Taking visitors deep into a surreal dream world, the show explores of the fleeting moments between sleep and waking, inviting visitors to consider what happens in the quiet moments before waking, while we teeter in a nebulous space on the precipice of sleep. The show coincides with a reimagining of the venue’s Beyond Reality gallery, home to immersive adaptations of works by Salvador Dalí, Hieronymus Bosch and Max Ernst.
Creating a visual landscape saturated with deep blues, greens and purples – colours associated with relaxation, renewal, and introspection – Luxton’s work is a meditation on rest, restoration and the subconscious, that invites us to let our minds wander and dream. Reminding us of the unconscious mind’s power as a provider of insight and self-discovery, Luxton draws on the philosophical musings of Aristotle on the function of dreams in her work. While Frameless aims to dissolve the boundaries between art and its audience, Right Before We Wake asks us to pause and reflect in a liminal space between waking and dreams.
6. Les Dernieres Remparts Carcassonne 1304
Opens: 4 April 2025
Location: Paris, France
Experience Sector: Virtual Reality
VR time travel is in vogue, with Versailles offering a VR tour of its long-lost gardens and Paris’ Bercy Village hosting an epic virtual experience set in 14th century Carcassonne. Created by Excurio and taking place at Eclipso, you’re invited to travel back to 1304 to experience Carcassonne’s medieval citadel in its heyday. Excurio’s fourth VR adventure, Les Derniers Remparts, Carcassonne 1304 is a 45-minute experience that allows viewers to discover the great fortress and its just-completed ramparts, which have been rendered in 3D exactly as they would have looked.
Conjuring up the heady atmosphere of 14th century southern France, in this child-friendly VR experience we follow Simon, a young lord, and Agnès, a rebellious townswoman, through the streets and ramparts of Carcassonne and get to witness everyday life in the Middle Ages, from its market scenes and nightly patrols of the ramparts, to weapons training. Blending fiction with historical fact, against a backdrop of religious and power struggles, we follow Simon’s journey as he seeks to keep the peace and protect the city during troubled times.
5. Refik Anadol Living Architecture: Gehry
Open now until 19 October 2025
Location: Bilbao, Spain
Experience Sector: Immersive Art
AI man of the moment Turkish-American visual artist Refik Anadol has a new show at the Guggenheim in Bilbao, which marks the launch of in situ, a new series dedicated to site-specific installations that push the boundaries of contemporary art. Bringing together artists whose work spans visual art, technology, music, and performance, in situ explores new ways of perceiving and inhabiting space. Living Architecture: Gehry is a groundbreaking audiovisual installation that reimagines Frank Gehry’s architectural legacy through AI and generative art. The visuals are rendered in 20K resolution; the largest resolution ever created with AI.
Requiring 46 projectors, multiple cameras, and a custom scent piped into the museum, the installation was created with the help of a custom-built AI model that was trained for months on a vast archive of open-access imagery, sketches, and blueprints to transform Gehry’s architectural language into ever-changing landscapes of form, colour, and movement. Enhancing the visual spectacle is an immersive soundscape by Kerim Karaoglu that blends AI-generated audio with recordings captured in the museum. The result is a multisensory experience that highlights art and technology’s increasingly intertwined relationship.
4. You: Matter
Opens: 3 April until 28 February 2026
Location: Bradford, UK
Experience Sector: Immersive Learning
We love everything disruptive art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast turns its hands to and its latest creation in Bradford is no exception. Cleverly called You: Matter, the show, at the newly reopened National Science and Media Museum, aims to help visitors gain a deeper understanding of their personal connection to the universe, and the web of relationships that bond us together, through immersive sound and video installations. Inside you can witness the Earth breathing through NASA data and follow the journey of a single drop of water.
You’ll also discover how everything in our universe can be traced back to the same cosmic explosion. Highlighting the fact that the Big Bang wasn’t just a one-time event – it’s still very much banging – the show highlights how we don’t just exist in the universe, we are the universe. Commissioned to coincide with Bradford being named the 2025 UK City of Culture, the child-friendly show aims to make people think more deeply about their place within the cosmos, and how the human body is inextricably linked to water, air, and sunlight.
3. Astra Lumina
Open now
Location: Gold Coast, Australia
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
An Aussie staple, this new iteration at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary marks the first permanent Lumina Night Walk in the country, and the Southern Hemisphere. Partially funded by the Queensland government, Astra Lumina Gold Coast has transformed the natural beauty of the sanctuary into a cosmic wonderland for immersive night walks. Created by the brains behind Moment Factory, the experience takes visitors on an otherworldly journey where Australia’s bushland comes to life under the stars in a symphony of light of sound.
The Gold Coast installation uses immersive projections, lighting, and soundscapes to create a celestial journey through sanctuary’s bushland, connecting visitors with the stars and the natural world. “Our mission is to inspire collective wonder and foster meaningful connections through new forms of entertainment. This enchanted pathway reimagines the sanctuary’s night-time beauty, offering unforgettable moments among the stars,” said Jérôme De Baecque, Moment Factory’s APAC development director. Proceeds from Astra Lumina will support the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary’s conservation programmes and wildlife hospital.
2. INTER
Open now
Location: New York, US
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
The Big Apple has a shiny new experiential venue in the form of INTER in Soho. The multi-sensory museum from the creative minds behind the Museum of Ice Cream and photography centre Fotografiska takes visitors on an intergalactic adventure. Housed inside the old First National City Bank of New York, the venue officially opened in May 2023 with abstract digital art of images evoking natural phenomena like earth, fire and water, a floral tunnel, an infinity room and a water installation. This year things have ramped up with 10 immersive exhibits using light, sound and digital projections to transport you to another galaxy.
The journey begins with a bang, blasting you to another planet via an immersive video in a room decked out as a space ship. Down a mirrored hallway you can walk through a tunnel of bioluminescent flowers, jump around in a netted space called ‘The Vortex’ and get swallowed by a black hole in an infinity mirrored room. As the name suggests, INTER is highly interactive. There are multiple generative art installations that react in real-time. You can put on a space suit in the interstellar research lab and form new constellations via motion-tracking technology, then scan QR codes to take part in a space-themed scavenger hunt.
1. London Experience Week
Opens: 28 April until 2 May 2026
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Experiential Learning
Taking our top spot this month is the WXO’s own, London Experience Week – the Experience Economy’s answer to London Fashion Week, where industry leaders convene to spot experience trends, strike deals, and shape the future of and how we live, work, and play. The world’s first city-wide celebration of the booming Experience Economy, the event, supported by London & Partners, is a must for all experience designers, offering five days of learning, designing and connecting in one of the world’s most important experience capitals.
Taking place at experiential venue Phantom Peak in Canada Water, the event includes hands-on workshops, over 50 global speakers, and the chance to network with over 500 experience innovators. Attendees will get to go behind the scenes at some of London’s boldest immersive experiences, including Frameless, Alcotraz, and Tutankhamun. Aiming to be the United Nations of the experience world, where thought leaders share bold ideas and visions for the future, among the attendees will be reps from AREA15, Meow Wolf, Moment Factory, Netflix, Secret Cinema, and Elvis Evolution. Speakers include Winston Fisher, CEO of AREA15 in Las Vegas; Didi Bethurum, former CCO of Meow Wolf; and Pigalle Tavakkoli, experience producer for the V&A.
You’ll leave with the right tools and strategies to deliver ROI, and a clearer way to pitch, prove, and price your experiences. Perhaps most important of all, the event will help you to build a network of industry-leading allies, mentors, and future collaborators. During the event you’ll be given backstage access to Phantom Peak and a preview of prototypes. There will also be industry debates, case studies from the likes of Punchdrunk, design labs and curated evening socials.
