Welcome to this month’s round-up of Extraordinary Experiences across all experience sectors and around the globe.
We’re into the middle of the year, with the summer solstice on its way in the Southern Hemisphere. And it’s not only the mercury that’s heating up, as we’ve got a blazing hot line-up of extraordinary experiences for you this month across a variety of sectors.
Music gets top billing, with everywhere from Texas to Paris putting on unmissable shows. In London SXSW makes its European debut, while Meow Wolf will be hosting a summer concert series at Radio Tave in Houston. The life of Mozart is being celebrated at a Cistercian monastery in Paris, and the history of rock ‘n’ roll charted in New York.
Immersive theatre with a twist is also on the menu this month. In London, we’re excited for the opening of Storehouse in Deptford, one of the UK’s largest-scale immersive theatre shows that aims to challenge our sense of truth and trust. Across town, Echo at the Royal Court sees a different actor take to the stage each night and encounter their script cold. Over in New York, immersive audio experience Viola’s Room reimagines a classic gothic mystery.
Educational experiences also abound, with Hollywood royalty Gwyneth Paltrow helping to create a lush Korean forest complete with a meditation meadow in the Meatpacking District, and living legend Sir David Attenborough lending his voice to a new experience at London’s Natural History Museum that charts the evolution of the natural world, highlighting our place within it and our ability to affect change.
18. The Forest Within
Open now until 29 June 2025
Location: New York, US
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
In a collaboration that sounds like a fever dream, Hollywood royalty and Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow has teamed up with immersive experience purveyor Genesis House in New York to create a lush Korean forest in the Meatpacking District. Called ‘The Forest Within’, the free immersive exhibition is narrated by Paltrow, who worked with floral designer Jeff Leatham on the aesthetics, reimagining the basement-level space as a holistic environment designed to stimulate the senses and balance the mind, and providing the narration for it. Visitors follow a tiger through a dense forest inspired by Korea’s Sobaek Mountains.
With Paltrow’s voice as your guide, you head through a maze of rock formations and lush greenery, ending up in a meditation meadow where you can practice mindfulness around a reflection pool. Expect high tech digital visuals, sounds, smells and textures that create a fully immersive experience. “There are very few places to encounter this kind of immersive, meditative experience in the heart of New York. Collaborating on this project has been an opportunity to push the boundaries of what wellness can look and feel like, and I’m thrilled to invite people into this serene, multisensory world we’ve created,” Paltrow said.
17. V&A East Storehouse
Open now
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Museums
All eyes are on East London this month, following the long-awaited opening of the V&A East Storehouse in Stratford; a treasure trove boasting over 250,000 artefacts you can enjoy up close, from bronze statues to Vivienne Westwood jackets. Spanning multiple centuries, continents and creative formats, the free to enter storehouse gives you that kid in a candy shop feeling. Very much a working museum, don’t expect permanent displays, but more of a mish mash of artefacts you can pore over spanning fashion, furniture, photography, ceramics, and musical instruments to name but a few, the random nature of the displays being part of the fun. Designed to be a self-guided experience, you get to choose your own adventure, but friendly assistants are on hand if you have any questions.
Offering a look behind the curtain, while walking around you can watch the conservationists at work. The pièce de résistance is the ‘Order an Object’ service, where visitors can request any available item from the archive to be brought to them in a special viewing room, where they can peruse it at their leisure. Appointments are free and can be booked online, and up to five objects can be viewed for research purposes or just the pure pleasure of it. Thus far the most popular item is a hot pink 1954 silk taffeta evening dress by Balenciaga. Set across four floors, the 16,000 square metre space is also home to 350,000 books and the largest Picasso painting in the world. Look out for the mini exhibitions at the end of each corridor.
16. Poisson Lune Summer Terrace
Open now until 30 September 2025
Location: Paris, France
Experience Sector: Live Events
For the seventh year, the Poisson Lune terrace is back with a bang at the Palais de la Porte Dorée in Paris. Expect a jam-packed programme of summer events centred around the Banlieues Chéries exhibition that shine a light on emerging artists and exceptional young talent. This year’s Fête de la Musique has a 100% rap line-up, while you can enjoy free tours of the palace every Thursday evening, allowing you a behind-the-scenes look at the venue after hours. From Tuesday to Sunday drinks, food trucks, concerts, quizzes, grand balls and pop-up tours are on the menu.
The family-friendly event also features plenty of workshops for kids. We love the sound of the literary fashion show on 17 June devised by author Régis Nkissi, while throughout the month the NOT ONLY HIP-HOP collective will be offering visitors an introduction to graffiti, rap, scratching and breaking followed by a live DJ set and dance jam. On 13 July it’s the Metro Musicians’ Ball, where singer Kalala will be performing, while from 17-20 July you can immerse yourself in Caribbean culture through concerts, cooking, Cuban salsa and quizzes.
15. Color Hotel
Open now
Location: Rome, Italy
Experience Sector: Themed Attractions
Color me happy, there’s a venue in Rome that celebrates all things bright and beautiful, but don’t let the name fool you; there’s no overnight stays at the Color Hotel. Instead you can amble around a series of themed rooms designed to spark joy through color. Housed within the Wow Side Shopping Centre in the eternal city, the 4,000 square metre venue takes you down a brightly colored rabbit hole offering Instagram opportunities aplenty. When you enter you’re given a key, which gives you access to the venue’s 11 themed rooms.
With set designs by Alessia Petrangeli and collaborations from artists such as Motorefisico, Mr.THOMS, and Studio Cliché, each room in the dreamlike space is characterised by a color. Designed to stimulate all the senses, in the Pillow Room you can indulge your inner child with a good old fashioned pillow fight (or pretend you’re walking through the clouds), while in the pink hued Furry Room you can try on an array of garments, from funky hats to jazzy jackets. The Black Room, meanwhile, is home to hundreds of floating fluorescent balloons, creating a space suspended between dreams and reality. There’s also a ball pit and a white art gallery.
14. Marvel Infinity Saga Concert Experience
Opens: 6 June until 11 June 2025
Location: UK various
Experience Sector: Music, Live Events
Iron Man fans listen up. This summer Marvel Studios is taking its Infinity Saga Concert Experience on tour around the UK, offering fans of the franchise an epic audio-visual experience that takes you on a cinematic journey spanning 23 films backed by a live orchestra. Revisit the earliest days of Captain America and Thor accompanied by their own heroic score. The series kicks off at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on 6 June, moving to Bridgewater Hall in Manchester on 8 June, then heading to the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on 10 June, before wrapping at Usher Hall in Edinburgh on 11 June.
Marvel fans will witness its mightiest heroes joining forces for the first time, celebrating classics such as Black Panther, The Avengers, Captain Marvel, and The Guardians of the Galaxy backed by the Novello Orchestra. The concert showcases scores by acclaimed composers including Alan Silvestri, Christophe Beck, Henry Jackman, and Ludwig Göransson,. The curated live-to-film experience also features iconic songs from AC/DC, Blue Swede and Björn Skifs, and songwriters Alan Menken, James Gunn and Tyler Bates. The experience kicked off last August at the Hollywood Bowl in LA.
13. Meow Wolf Summer Concert Series
Opens: 6 June until 25 July 2025
Location: Texas, US
Experience Sector: Music, Live Events
Meow Wolf Houston is cranking up the volume this summer with its first-ever Summer Concert Series, a four-part celebration of Houston musical talent. From 6 June until 25 July, local favourites will ignite the stage at Radio Tave on select nights, merging the mind-bending world of Meow Wolf with the raw energy of Texas music, so expect a high-octane hometown party. The line-up spans genres as diverse as Texas itself, from dance-punk and synth-pop to blues rock and Latin pop. Look out for Swimwear Department, who will kick off the summer series on 6 June with their offbeat brand of dance-punk.
On 20 June it’s Texan duo Night Drive’s turn, who will deliver a midnight rush of modern synth-pop. Expect pulsing basslines, shimmering synths, and vocals that ride the edge between dreamy and daring. Don’t miss blues legend The Mighty Orq, who will be bringing his own brand of bayou blues grit and swampy juke-joint fun to Radio Tave. “Houston’s music scene has always been bold, genre-defying, and deeply original, so it felt natural to bring that same energy into our Radio Tave world,” said Aaron Johnson, GM of Meow Wolf Houston.
12. Clubbing
Open now until 1 October 2025
Location: Paris, France
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
Whistles and glow sticks at the ready, as an immersive exhibition dedicated to nightclubs has landed at the Grand Palais Immersif in Paris. Called Clubbing, the show is a participatory exhibition curated by artist Pierre Giner in collaboration with graphic design collective Trafik and electronic media Poptronics that allows visitors to dive into the heart of club culture, from the earliest underground nights to the most current clubbing trends. A sensory journey through sound, light and movement, the exhibition charts the history of nightclubs such as The Loft, Studio 54 and the Hacienda, which shaped clubbing culture.
Set across 1,200 square metres, the exhibition transforms the Grand Palais Immersif into a new-generation club, where history and technology merge in a multi-sensory experience. Interactive in nature, visitors become part of the party from the moment they’re greeted by the bouncer on the door. Once inside you can create (and dance with) your own avatar; admire a collection of clubbing gear (and dance moves) through the decades; step inside the dance floor room, a space in perpetual motion; listen to over 200 clubbing tracks selected by DJ Patrick Vidal; and take part in a permanent stream of online DJs.
11. Echo
Opens: 27 June until 5 July 2025
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Immersive Theatre
Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour of White Rabbit, Red Rabbit fame and director Omar Elerian push the boundaries of Soleimanpour’s signature unrehearsed cold reads to the next level in Echo, which sees a new performer take to the stage each night and encounter the script for the first time. It’s the kind of play that would bring most actors out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, a troop of hardy souls has taken on the challenge for our enjoyment this month. Unrehearsed and unprepared, the script becomes their guide as they journey through the story of the playwright, who is on hand to assist them live from his flat in Berlin.
Ambitious and uncompromising, Echo asks us to confront what it feels like to be an immigrant. The cold read format of this genre-defying experience at the Jerwood Theatre transforms every show into a unique event: part improvisation, part global storytelling ritual, where neither audience nor actor knows what to expect. It’s a metaphysical voyage across time zones and histories exploring the themes of belonging, identity, and home that invites us to embrace the unknown and find connection in unexpected places. Among the brave actors taking part are: Dominic West, Juliet Stevenson, Daniel Kaluuya and Mel Giedroyc.
10. Mountains, Mindfulness & Meaning
Opens: 19-23 June 2025
Location: South Tyrol, Italy
Experience Sector: Immersive Wellbeing
Recent WXO member Clara Gulde will be heading to the mountains in South Tyrol this month to host a five-day retreat aimed at sparking transformation by combining mindfulness, purpose, and reflection. Called Mountains, Mindfulness & Meaning, it asks participants to step away from the noise and feel the ground beneath their feet. Designed to help you slow down, breathe deeply, and reconnect, the aim is for those who take part to walk away with the clarity and direction they’ve been seeking. Pressing pause on the pressures of day to day life, this break from reality will help participants to realign themselves with their purpose.
Once you rise from your mountain hut, the retreat will include a host of mindfulness practices, from yoga and meditation to breathwork and cacao ceremonies, designed to calm the mind. There will also be plenty of time for self-exploration via sessions designed to help you find clarity, realign with your values, and take purposeful steps forward. Mix that with mountain hikes in the Pfossental Valley, mindful walks with a small group of likeminded people, and nutritious meals made from local, seasonal produce and you have all the ingredients for a restorative few days, with a dash of stargazing thrown in to inspire awe.
9. Rolling Stone Presents: Amplified
Open now until 31 August 2025
Location: New York, US
Experience Sector: Music, Immersive Entertainment
Music is being put under the spotlight at New York’s ARTECHOUSE this month, which will play host to a 50-minute immersive journey into the music, history, imagery and the culture of rock ‘n’ roll. Called Rolling Stone Presents: Amplified, the show encompasses over 1,000 photographs, 200 videos, 1,300 Rolling Stone covers, and over 300 iconic artists whose music changed the world. Narrated by actor Kevin Bacon, the audio-visual experience makes the most of ARTECHOUSE’s cutting edge, 270-degree, floor-to-ceiling 18K-resolution digital canvas and state-of-the-art surround sound to bring the history of rock ‘n’ roll to life.
The show is a guided tour through the story of revolutionary music and the changes it brought. Drawing from rare live performance and behind-the-scenes footage, portrait sessions, album art, and posters, Amplified offers one of the most comprehensive collections of rock ‘n’ roll imagery ever assembled, taking in works by boundary pushing photographers and filmmakers such as Mark Seliger, Danny Clinch, Lynn Goldsmith, Jim Marshall, Neil Preston and Janette Beckman. A pioneer in the field of experiential art, ARTECHOUSE creates technology-driven exhibitions that expand the possibilities of art and how we experience it.
8. Our Story With David Attenborough
Opens: 19 June until 30 November 2025
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Immersive Learning
Get ready to immerse yourself in an epic tale of people and planet in this new 360° experience presented by living legend Sir David Attenborough. Called Our Story, the experience at the Natural History Museum allows you to watch as the walls and floor burst into life around you; witness the birth of life on our planet and see it evolve over billions of years; look on as a family of gorillas play in their lush forest home; and follow the journey of a humpback whale beneath the waves. During the experience, Attenborough reflects on what he’s witnessed throughout his illustrious career and shares his hopes for the planet.
Spanning the earliest beginnings to the tipping point when we begin to influence the world around us, 99-year-old Attenborough’s words have crafted the experience, which reflects his lifetime exploring our planet and sharing its wonders with the world. Produced by the award-winning filmmakers behind many of Attenborough’s documentaries, the 50-minute experience blends footage of the natural world with cutting-edge animation to create something special at the museum’s Jerwood Gallery. “My hope is that visitors will experience our extraordinary journey and come away feeling inspired, informed and most of all, empowered about their integral role in our world,” Attenborough said.
7. Into The Light
Open now until 31 August 2025
Location: Paris, France
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
Lighting up Paris this month is a multi-sensory exhibition that gathers a dozen artists from across Europe spanning contemporary art, sculpture, digital projections, interactive installations and music. Called Into The Light, the show, which is set across 3,000 square metres, is an invitation to explore new perceptions. Within it light becomes a tangible material and creates thought-provoking works of art. From the monumental to the contemplative, the 15 works on show reinvent the art of light by exploring its technological, sensory, and visual dimensions to give form to light and reveal the invisible. Among the artists on show are: Nonotak; Olivier Rasti; Playmodes; Quiet Ensemble; and Jaqueline Hen.
Contrary to what we’ve been taught, light can be touched, shaped, and sculpted. Beyond its primary function of illumination, light is also a universal language we use to heal, play, bring joy, and tell stories, making it both a source of emotion and a means of creation. The show’s interactive, educational installations transform the Grande Halle de la Villette into an illuminated journey of works, proving that light is a spectacle and a celebration. Aimed at introducing art to a wider audience, the show was co-created by TETRO and Encore Productions. To see things a little differently, every Thursday you can visit the show at night, where you can chill on a pouf and get lost in the soaring hypnotic lightworks for hours.
6. Prague Planetarium
Opens: 14 June 2025
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Experience Sector: Themed Attractions, Immersive Learning
The brains behind Cosm in Las Vegas have lent their particular brand of magic to Europe’s first fully digital LED planetarium dome: Prague Planetarium. Powered by Cosm’s CX System LED tech the dome will make its debut on 14 June. “Prague Planetarium has positioned itself as a global leader in immersive science experiences,” said Cosm’s COO, Kirk Johnson. “With the flexibility and visual quality of Cosm’s CX System, the planetarium has unlocked a new level of visual depth, clarity, and realism that will transform how audiences engage with science, space, and culture.”
Reopening after a two-year renovation, visitors to Prague Planetarium will now be able to enjoy a next-generation immersive display featuring 8K+ resolution across 12,000 LED panels and 45 million diodes, which is 100x brighter than traditional projection systems; and a fully digital, seamless dome with advanced Digistar Planetarium software that has been purpose-built for science education, astronomy teaching, cultural programming, and artistic exploration. Cosm claims it’s the most advanced LED dome ever installed in a planetarium, setting a new international standard for immersive science and storytelling.
5. SXSW London
Held in Austin, Texas every year, multi-disciplinary festival South by South West (SXSW) has landed in London for the first time, making its debut across dozens of venues in Shoreditch in the city’s east end. Expectations are high for the festival’s European debut, and there are whispers that the King might attend. The debut UK show will comprise over 70 music events, 420 talks and 250 film screenings. The impressive line-up of speakers across music, art, film and tech includes actors Idris Elba and Sophie Turner, wellness guru Deepak Chopra, fitness fanatic Joe Wicks, comedian Katherine Ryan and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis.
SXSW has worked with a host of music partners to co-curate the line-up, including Abbey Road Studios, BBC Introducing, Black Lives in Music and City Splash Festival. On the music front, Grammy award-winning singer, songwriter and producer Tems will be taking to the stage, as will former Fugee Wyclef Jean and Jean-Michel Jarre. “From redefining industries to spotlighting cutting-edge music scenes, this is just the beginning of what promises to be an unforgettable celebration of global creativity,” said Max Alexander, CEO of SXSW London.
4. The Matrix In Shared Reality At Cosm
Opens: 7 June until 26 August 2025
Location: LA & Dallas, US
Experience Sector: Mixed Reality, Immersive Entertainment
Neophiles, this is one for you… The world’s first-ever cinematic Shared Reality experience is coming to Cosm’s LA and Dallas venues with a corker of a film: The Matrix, in honour of its 25th anniversary – yes, it makes us feel old too. As meta as it gets, when you watch The Matrix on Cosm’s domed, 87-foot-diameter wraparound screen, you’re seeing a film within a film, making the smallest of details more visible and relevant to the narrative by coming into view for the first time. Everything interacts and overlaps: rooftop fight scenes become a small part of a giant cityscape, while an apartment shot offers a glimpse into an entire complex.
The ultimate goal is to redefine the cinematic experience and for viewers to feel like they’re existing in the same environment as Keanu Reeves’ Neo and Laurence Fishburne’s Morpheus. The Shared Reality element means that newly created CGI animation is layered on top of the original film. Having experimented with shorts, The Matrix marks Cosm’s first foray into feature-length films and is the perfect fit, with its theme of multiple visions of reality. The experience, a collaboration with experiential creative agency Little Cinema, envelopes viewers from its opening action sequence through its iconic red pill versus blue pill moment, until the layering of animations and action builds as the film races towards its epic climax.
3. The Mozart Mystery
Opens: 28 June 2025
Location: Paris, France
Experience Sector: Music, Immersive Entertainment
If you’re a fan of Mozart’s music and are keen to learn more about the child prodigy from Salzburg then this show in Paris is for you. Offering a peek behind the curtain of Mozart’s most celebrated works, The Mozart Mystery brings the genius composer’s story to life in an original musical and theatrical journey within Cistercian monastery the Collège des Bernardins. Combining music, theatre, dance, period costumes and visual mapping, the show is an emotionally rich experience that takes you deep inside Mozart’s repertoire, from The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro to The Abduction from the Seraglio and Requiem.
In each room, some thirty musicians, actors and dancers will immerse you in eight tableaux scenes taking in seventeen works, inviting you to interact with the unfolding events by taking the helm of an orchestra and taking part in a Baroque ball in a fetching 18th century wig. The result is an innovative, 90-minute experience combining live performances and recordings that will appeal to classical music fans. The show has been produced by Michel Eli and directed by Nathalie Spinozi, with choreography from Mourad Merzouki, and pays homage to the child genius who had created over 600 musical works before his untimely death at 35.
2. Storehouse
Opens: 4 June until 20 September 2025
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Theatre, Immersive Entertainment
We’re excited for this one. Arts production company Sage and Jester are behind one of this year’s most intriguing immersive theatre experiences: Storehouse. Aiming to challenge a participant’s sense of truth and trust, the production is one of the UK’s largest-scale immersive theatre shows. Created by Liana Patarkatsishvili, Sophie Larsmon and Rosalyn Newbery, audiences step into a world where humanity’s stories have been archived since the dawn of the internet, entering a battle between the defenders of truth and the keepers of order. The action takes place across a 9,000 square metre warehouse space in Deptford – once the paper store for Rupert Murdoch’s News International Group.
Inside attendees will uncover a sprawling, hidden archive built to house every news story, message, memory and meme ever transmitted across digital networks the world over. Since the dawn of the internet in 1983, these have been gathered and meticulously catalogued by an underground collective in the belief that if all humanity’s stories are brought together, they will reveal a higher, universal truth that could change everything. But the narratives inside the Storehouse are beginning to compete, and its only remaining founder is fading fast. A successor is urgently needed to safeguard the mission and decide what’s preserved, rewritten or destroyed. Lending their voices to the production, which shines a light on the dangers of misinformation, are Toby Jones, Meera Syal, Kathryn Hunter and Billy Howle.
1. Viola’s Room
Opens: 17 June until 19 October 2025
Location: New York, US
Experience Sector: Immersive Audio
The latest experiential sucker punch from maestros Punchdrunk promises “an audio-driven journey through a moonlit fever dream”, in which a barefoot, headphone-wearing audience has to feel their way through a labyrinthine installation as an unseen narrator reveals a story of innocence lost and obsession unleashed. And if that wasn’t intriguing enough, the production of Viola’s Room has been adapted by Booker Prize-shortlisted Daisy Johnson and is narrated by the ever-brilliant Helena Bonham Carter, who distils two decades of Punchdrunk’s immersive experience into an intimate and chilling sensory adventure.
Having made its debut in London, the new iteration takes place at The Shed on New York’s West 30th Street. Viola’s Room is a remake of an early Punchdrunk show called The Moon Slave; which itself is an adaptation of an eerie early 20th century short story by Barry Pain about a strong-willed princess who’s drawn to a forbidden maze. In the Punchdrunk production, groups start off by attending a sleepover where they’ll be read a bedtime story that feeds into Pain’s tale. Viola’s Room reimagines a classic gothic mystery as a multi-sensory experience. Expect darkness, flashing lights, and crawling through narrow spaces.
