Welcome to this month’s round-up of Extraordinary Experiences across all experience sectors and around the globe. 

November is upon us. The clocks have gone back and the nights are drawing in, but there’s no shortage of spellbinding experiences on offer to get us off the sofa and out of the house. In LA immersive dining takes two very different forms this month. At Family Meal it’s Succession meets The Bear as three siblings battle it out to continue their chef father’s legacy. Hot ticket and celebrity favourite The Willows, meanwhile, is an altogether more chilling affair involving seven narrative tracks unfolding simultaneously in an eerie mansion. 

Art and technology are cleverly colliding all over the globe this month. At ARTECHOUSE in New York, new exhibition Submerge: Beyond the Render is the largest ever showcase of rendered immersive digital art uniting a dozen of the world’s leading artists in this field. In London, Berlin-based British game designer Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley invites gallery goers into a post-apocalyptic world at her no-holds-barred new show The Delusion, and through live community play, provides a space for players to pause and reconnect. 

Dance is being spotlighted this month at two new exhibitions: Infinite Bodies at Somerset House in London, and Dans(e) la Lumière at the EDF Group Foundation in Paris. The former charts the Royal Opera House’s resident choreographer, Wayne McGregor’s career and celebrates the way that we experience the world through our bodies via multi-sensory installations, live performances and archive material. Dans(e) la Lumière, meanwhile, showcases various dance forms and explores the dialogue between light and movement.

We’re also looking back in time as history takes centre stage. In Abu Dhabi, the natural world is put under the microscope at its shiny new Natural History Museum, which boasts a near-complete skeleton of a T-rex called Stan. In Singapore, fans of fashion brand Hermès can learn the inspirations behind its famous scarf designs at The Silky Way experience at Marina Bay Sands, while in London the thrills and spills of gladiatorial life in ancient Rome are brought vividly to life at a VR experience centred around the Colosseum, where one fearless gladiator is forced to choose between the promise of freedom and eternal glory.

18. Netflix House

Opens: 12 November 2025
Location: Philadelphia, US 
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment 

The wait is over and it’s time to see what the fuss is all about, as streaming juggernaut Netflix will open the doors to its first Netflix House in Philly this month, allowing fans to step inside the worlds of their favourite shows and run riot. Located inside the King of Prussia mall, the immersive entertainment venue spans over 100,000 square feet and boasts a mix of free and paid experiences. Highlights include gamified mini golf with holes themed around characters from popular Netflix shows including Bridgerton and Stranger Things. Other games on offer at the house are: One Piece: Quest for the Devil Fruit and Wednesday: Eve of the Outcasts. There’s even a Netflix Bites restaurant serving themed food and drink, and a Netflix store. 

Look out for the Netflix Virtuals VR experience, which lets fans play as the main character from their favourite shows and films, including Squid Game and Rebel Moon. The Philadelphia debut will swiftly be followed by a sister Netflix House venue at the Galleria Dallas mall in Dallas, which is due to open in time for the Christmas holidays on 11 December. Here you’ll find Netflix RePlay, an interactive take on vintage arcade games featuring shows and films such as Floor Is Lava, Army of the Dead and Big Mouth. Other Dallas offerings include Stranger Things: Escape the Dark and Squid Game: Survive the Trials. We’re here for it. 

17. Peter Doig House Of Music

Open now until 8 February 2026
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Immersive Art

Taking the fusion of fine art and music to the next level is this free show at the Serpentine Gallery in London, which explores the role of music, film, and creative exchange within contemporary Scottish painter Peter Doig’s works. Transforming the gallery into a listening space, House of Music brings together recent paintings and integrates sound into Doig’s work. Each painting engages with music in a different way: some depict spaces where music is played or heard, others show musicians performing or people dancing. The exhibition features two sets of rare, restored analogue speakers designed for cinemas. In one set, music from Doig’s record collection plays through ‘high fidelity’ 1950s Klangfilm Euronor speakers. 

At the centre of the exhibition is an original Western Electric / Bell Labs sound system made in the late 1920s. A rare ‘loud speaking telephone’, it offers a unique listening experience. Visitors are invited to pause and linger as they look and listen, transforming the gallery into a place of reflection and conversation. Sound Service evenings will invite special guests to share selected tracks and audio samples responding to one another in unexpected acoustic exchanges in front of a live audience. Participants include: Lizzi Bougatsos, Brian Eno and Linton Kwesi Johnson. On Sundays, the gallery space will host a series of live listening sessions where musicians will share tracks from their collections on the analogue systems. 

16. Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi

Opens: 22 November 2025  
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Experience Sector: Museums, Immersive Learning 

Abu Dhabi is a hotbed of activity and development right now on the experiential front. It’s latest offering is a shiny new Natural History Museum in the Saadiyat Cultural District, which opens on 22 November. Joining the Louvre Abu Dhabi and teamLab Phenomena in the entertainment district, the 35,000-square metre venue is the largest of its kind in the region and will take mini Sir David Attenboroughs in the making on an immersive journey through 13.8 billion years of natural history, including the Big Bang and the rise and fall of dinosaurs. Designed by architects Mecanoo, the museum will boast interactive exhibits, immersive experiences, and natural history specimens and artefacts.

Highlights include a skeleton of a T-rex called Stan, a 25m female blue whale specimen, and a meteorite containing 7-billion-year-old grains. As well as a visitor attraction, the museum will be a global hub for cutting-edge research. Its labs will be used to advance studies in earth sciences, palaeontology, biodiversity research, conservation and community science, helping to pave the way for the next generation of naturalists. “The museum offers an immersive look at the story of life on Earth framed through an Arabian lens, with the fauna, flora, and geological history of the region forming a prominent part of the visitor journey,” said Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of Abu Dhabi’s department of culture and tourism.

15. Family Meal

Opens: 7-16 November 2025 
Location: Los Angeles, US
Experience Sector:, Immersive Dining  

This delicious blend of immersive fine dining and live theatre is giving us Succession meets The Bear vibes and is packed with the drama of the former and the madcap nature of the latter. Created by a mixture of theatre and hospitality veterans, Family Meal brings the simmering tensions of a high-octane dinner service vividly to life. Audience members take on the role of food writers and industry vets who attend a final dinner service at the home of celebrated chef Landwald (played by chef Ben Baron) on announcement of his retirement. 

Once the stoves are fired up Landwald pits his three children against each other in a fight to continue his legacy. Each must decide whether to follow in their father’s footsteps or break the chain. Expect fiery tempers, inflamed ambition and culinary peacocking. Best of all, you’re given a front row seat to it, as you watch Jozef, Anna, and Firas battle it out for supremacy. During the six-course meal, each has to whip up a signature dish that wows the audience enough to win their vote, if they want to win the keys to the restaurant that is… 

14. Hermès The Silky Way

Open now until 5 November 2025
Location: Singapore 
Experience Sector: Immersive Retail 

We’d visit this new activation from scarf supremo Hermès on the strength of its puntastic name alone. Proving that the world’s most powerful brands need to step up their experiential game in order to stay relevant, The Silky Way offers Hermès fans a whimsical deep dive into the history of the brand and its screen-printed silk scarves. The free immersive experience at Marina Bay Sands charts the evolution of the French brand’s mostfamous export. Part film animation, part art exhibition, The Silky Way takes visitors on a playful journey that explores the inspiration behind its various scarf, or ‘carre’ (meaning square in French) designs. 

Offering pure escapism, the experience, which will travel the globe, begins with a 20-minute short film that follows a woman’s adventures beamed onto a domed roof in a dark room as you recline in a plush seat. After you’re free to explore the two gallery spaces displaying scarves showcased in the film, along with an explanation of their designers’ inspiration. Head to the Carre Stories wall to match the scarf to the clues you’re given, then swing by a trio of interactive cabins before ending up at the scarf station, where you can try out some of the designs for size and have your picture taken rocking them in a bespoke photo booth. 

13. Hidden Folklore

Opens: 7 November 2025
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment 

London’s Tate Britain gallery will be delving into all things folkloric for one night only this month. Called Hidden Folklore, the evening will include workshops, music and talks exploring different perspectives on folklore. The East Anglian Folklore Centre will lead an opening and closing ritual where visitors can make offerings to the quiet and constant things we take for granted. You can also create your own tarot cards with artist Rosemary Jane Cronin then have your cards read by her in the Play Studio. Other activities include live painting sessions inspired by African folklore hosted by Adeche Atelier, and live DJ sets from Reprezent Radio.

Follow artist Rudy Loewe on a trail through the gallery on an adventure to find trickster spider god Anansi then take part in the Mermaid’s Grotto Escape Room designed by folklorist Sacha Coward of Clore Studio. Working in a group you have 20 minutes to solve puzzles and find clues in order to return the Little Mermaid’s tongue to her in time. After all that action you can create your own art blindfolded in Hellebore’s Cave of Mysteries, then show off your mythical knowledge and compete for prizes in the Hidden Folklore Quiz.

12. The Jury Experience

Opens: 7 November 2025
Location: Perth, Australia 
Experience Sector: Live Events 

If you love a legal drama then immersive courtroom case The Jury Experience in Perth will be right up your alley. The brainchild of global entertainment giant Fever, the live theatrical show places the audience at the centre of a tense trial, transforming them into jurors in a 60-minute courtroom simulation. Set in a curated courtroom inspired by the American legal system, the production blurs the boundaries between performance and reality, with the audience playing an active role in the proceedings. Through witness testimonies, cross-examinations, and the weighing of evidence, they have to determine the accused’s fate.

Combining interactivity, narrative depth, and emotional intensity, the audience’s decisions influence how the story develops in real time, building towards a climactic final vote. Smart phones are needed for the jury to take part in key moments of the trial, a tale of greed, passion and revenge involving a love triangle, a multimillion-dollar divorce and a murder with no DNA evidence. With stakes high and emotions heightened, the tension in the room is palpable. Inspired by real events and designed to spark meaningful dialogue, the experience invites you to reflect on complex moral questions and explore differing viewpoints.

11. Submerge: Beyond The Render

Open now until 
Location: New York, US
Experience Sector: Immersive Art 

The latest incarnation of Submerge at ARTECHOUSE has been described by one WXO member as: “Burning Man for your retinas”, turning a Chelsea Market boiler room into “a GPU-powered baptism for the digitally curious”. With an orchestral arrangement by Zedd, Beyond the Render is the largest ever showcase of rendered immersive digital art uniting a dozen of the world’s leading digital artists in a first-of-its-kind exhibition powered entirely by the Render Network’s decentralised GPU (graphics processing unit) infrastructure. Spotlighting the most interesting and innovative voices in digital art, Submerge offers emerging artists a space to experiment with new aesthetics in immersive storytelling. 

The exhibition, which takes in everything from meditative digital landscapes to surreal XR dreamscapes, harnesses thousands of machines to process complex 3D creations at unprecedented speed and scale, removing barriers for independent creators and enabling them to expand what digital art can be. The project saw the artists working simultaneously across the globe, rendering their works at 18K scale in a matter of weeks. The show features works from Emmy winner Maciej Kuciara in collaboration with Emily Yang (pplpleasr), alongside Gavin Shapiro, Apple creative Woosung Kang, and India’s leading NFT artist Amrit Pal Singh, bringing together a diverse mix of voices shaping the future of digital art.

10. Aquarabia

Opens soon
Location: Saudi Arabia, UAE
Experience Sector: Themed Attractions 

Not long to go now until water wonderland Aquarabia opens at Six Flags Qiddiya City. The largest water park in Saudi will be home to 22 rides, family-friendly experiences and narrative-based attractions. Keen to make a splash, the park will boast four record-breaking rides, including the world’s tallest water coaster, the tallest drop body slide, and the longest mat racer. The tallest (and longest) coaster, Junoon Drop, will drop brave ride-goers from a height equivalent to a 12-storey building. It begins with an exhilarating uphill blast and features 180-degree turns, and a twisting flume with dazzling stripes. 

The theme park will also be home to the first underwater adventure ride featuring fully submersible cars. Set to attract tourists from around the globe, adrenaline-lovers can quicken their pulses at the extreme water sports zone, which will offer the likes of rafting, kayaking, canyoneering, free solo climbing and cliff jumping, as well as the Kingdom’s first surf pool: Surftopia. Boasting four customisable wave types for all skill levels, the football field-sized pool will shoot out two metre-high waves for an authentic surfing experience in the desert. Aquarabia is entirely walkable and features numerous restaurants and green oases.

9. Colosseum: The Legendary Arena

Open now
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: VR, Immersive Learning 

Roman history buffs are in for a treat as leading VR company Eclipso has created a dramatic new experience in London that thrusts you into the heart of a gladiatorial battle. Colosseum: The Legendary Arena recreates the grandeur of ancient Rome. Combining the latest in free-roaming VR tech with a gripping storyline, it gives you a front row seat to the action in all its bloodthirsty glory. Through the eyes of narrator Caius, guests are guided through the bustling markets of ancient Rome and beyond the city’s walls to the Colosseum. There, they’ll meet Flamma, a gladiator who will defy the promise of freedom for a chance at eternal glory. 

Offering more than just a glimpse into history, it’s a deep dive into the emotion, splendour and audacity of an empire that continues to fascinate. During the VR journey you’ll encounter immortal Gods, explore hidden chambers, live life as a Roman citizen, and experience the intensity of stepping inside the gladiatorial arena, where life and legends collide. Inside it you’ll feel the energy of the crowds and the weight of a gladiator’s choice. Designed in collaboration with Small Creative studio, the experience uses cutting-edge VR tech to deliver an authentic recreation of ancient Rome at scale, transforming history into a living spectacle.

8. Aura Grace Cathedral

Open now
Location: San Francisco, US
Experience Sector: Themed Attractions 

Having blazed a beautiful trail in Montreal and Paris, AURA is currently lighting up Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. Collaborating with Fever, creative studio Moment Factory has turned the Gothic landmark into a living canvas of light and sound. Featuring state-of-the-art immersive projections, optical illusions, lasers, and original music, the experience is designed to spark feelings of awe, wonder, reflection and contemplation. Before the journey begins, visitors can learn about the sacred site’s history and architecture via an interactive app. 

Then, the Golden State landmark is reimagined with the help of an original score elevated by the venue’s extraordinary acoustics. Lighting effects and awe-inspiring 3D projection mapping highlight the landmark’s grandeur in breath-taking detail, allowing the building to tell its story and be rediscovered by a new audience through light and music. We’re talking swirling storms across the nave, blooming ceilings, crashing waves, and stars drifting past stained glass and up the cathedral’s soaring arches, creating an epic multisensory experience. 

“By including AURA in Grace Cathedral, we’re not just illuminating our building, we’re inviting San Francisco to see one of its most beloved landmarks in a completely new light. From the moment the first notes echo through the cathedral, audiences will feel transported,” said Dr. Malcolm Clemens Young, dean of Grace Cathedral. “This extraordinary canvas, with its soaring arches and rich history, offers a rare opportunity to craft moments of magic,” added Moment Factory co-founder, Sakchin Bessette.

7. Dans(e) La Lumière

Opens: 4 November until 31 January 2026
Location: Paris, France 
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment 

Following on from the success of its first season, Dans(e) la Lumière returns to the EDF Group Foundation this month for an even bigger and brighter edition. Known for its contemporary art exhibitions on major social issues, the EDF Group Foundation is celebrating light and dance as a vector of universal expression this year with a new cultural programme that’s open to all. Running for three months, the event explores the dialogue between light and movement, and the place of artificial light in live performance, with an exhibition of works from visual artists who have collaborated with contemporary choreographers.

This year British choreographer Russell Maliphant returns with a solo presented for the first time in France. Hervé Koubi will bring together a dozen dancers to celebrate different dance forms and the power of movement. Evenings dedicated to Robyn Orlin will see the young dancers of the CNSMDP present the South African choreographer’s latest creation, as well as a solo performed by Volmir Cordeiro. The Foundation will also welcome Solène Wachter in a unique bifrontal solo, while Angelin Preljocaj‘s junior ballet will return to close the season. Throughout the event different dance forms will be showcased, from hip-hop to flamenco.

6. The Lumisphere Experience

Open now until 19 December 2025 
Location: Rio, Brazil 
Experience Sector: Immersive Learning  

Proving that experiential activations are often so much more than just pure entertainment is this new doozy in Rio, which is designed to ignite imaginations and inspire positive action in the fight against climate change. Co-designed with San Francisco’s Minds Over Matter studio, the location-based journey asks audiences to imagine and share their visions of their ideal eco-future, connecting those ideas into practical pathways for action. Masterminded by the Museum of Tomorrow and Visions2030, the free experience is open to all in Porto Maravilha. 

Conceived as a transformative space to dream, the experience is formed of a trio of interconnected Buckminster Fuller-inspired domes spanning 8,000 square feet. The multi-sensory environment, with 360° spectacular projections, surround sound, and interactive storytelling is designed to inspire awe and spark new perspectives. Hands-on tech allows participants to turn visions into vivid nine-foot-high images on LED screens, while a post-Lumisphere interaction encourages them to connect those visions to real-world solutions. 

“The Lumisphere Experience is a meditative and almost-psychedelic exercise in futures literacy,” said Fabio Rubio Scarano, curator of the Museum of Tomorrow. “It expands imagination, which is essential to activating hope and spurring transformative action.” Working with the Institute for the Future, the Lumisphere’s impact on visitors, and their ability to remain hopeful and motivated in the face of major global challenges, will be tracked. After making its debut in Rio the experience will begin a five-year global tour.

5. The Delusion

Open now until 18 January 2025
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Immersive Art, Gaming

Taking gaming out of teenagers bedrooms and into the gallery space is The Delusion by Berlin-based British artist Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, which explores the themes of polarisation, censorship and social connection. Brathwaite-Shirley is keen for us to not shy away from difficult subject matter. Her show combines satire and humour with cooperative gaming and participatory theatre to explore the real-world impacts of societal division and the unifying potential of video games. Asking us to enter a fractured future, she invites visitors into a post-apocalyptic world shaped by a catastrophic event: the Day of Division.

In this imagined future, society has broken into closed, dogmatic factions, each clinging to its own version of truth, community, and survival. Conceived as a ‘live community play’ and meeting space, the project features a new series of video games developed by the artist and aims to rehumanise debates and provide a space for players to pause, discuss and reconnect. Commissioned by Serpentine Arts Technologies, visitors enter an immersive installation designed in collaboration with Lydia Chan that blends the Brathwaite-Shirley’s personal history, religious and spiritual symbols, and elements of horror. The show explores how we relate, respond and resist when faced with collapsing systems and distorted realities. 

4. Atlas9

Open now 
Location: Kansas, US
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment 

We’re not in Kansas anymore Toto, or are we? Atlas9, a new narrative-driven immersive art experience set in a nostalgic 1990s cinema, has just opened in Kansas City. The 46,000-square-foot venue, which comes complete with a classic video arcade, and 1940s-themed jazz club and speakeasy, is an interactive playground designed to lure both art lovers and curious cats to Kansas City. Created by experience design firm Dimensional Innovations, the space immerses visitors in a fictional ‘90s movie theatre that in turn becomes a ‘living’ cinematic universe. 

Tasked with a mystery to solve, inside you’re free to roam through various themed rooms and corridors, and a 240-seat auditorium with projection mapping, an arcade, and a pizza parlour. During your journey you’ll interact with performers and take in art installations while scenes from forgotten films from the ‘90s come to life. “Our team of designers have pushed the boundaries of environmental storytelling to create an interactive experience unlike anything else in the Midwest,” said Tucker Trotter, CEO of Dimensional Innovations.

3. Stranger Things The Experience

Opens: 14 November until 15 February 2026
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment 

In addition to its new Natural History Museum, Abu Dhabi is also getting its own Stranger Things experience, which is soon to open at entertainment hotspot Yas Island, home to Ferrari World. Marking its Middle East debut, the immersive experience will appeal to fans of the hit Netflix show via a series of interactive adventuresset in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana. Inside you can walk in the footsteps of your favourite charactersfrom the series, encounter the mind-bending Upside Down, and take a deep dive into ‘80s nostalgia. 

Making use of cutting-edge special effects and engaging storylines, the interactive experience includes recreations of familiar locations from the show, such as the Hawkins Lab, and gives fans the chance to interact with live actors playing key characters from the series while solving puzzles and uncovering dark secrets in order to escape danger. Look out for the Mix-Tape area, a time capsule celebrating all things ‘80s – the era the show is set in – from themed food and drinks, and nostalgic set pieces, to exclusive Stranger Things merch. 

2. Wayne McGregor: Infinite Bodies

Open now until 22 February 2026
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Immersive Art

Somerset House is shining a light on the Royal Opera House’s resident choreographer, Wayne McGregor, this month in an epic new show called Infinite Bodies. Offering a bold exploration of McGregor’s three-decade career, which includes choreographing ABBA Voyage and a ballet inspired by Virginia Woolf, the exhibition celebrates the way that we experience the world through our bodies. Via multi-sensory choreographic installations, performances and archive material, the show explores how his investigations into body movement and cutting-edge digital technologies have radically redefined our perception of physical intelligence.

Blurring the boundaries between physical and digital space, Infinite Bodies charts how technology is used in dance choreography, music, and lighting, with works that incorporate motion capture, machine learning, AI interactivity, and digital imaging, alongside hybrid realities and robotics. At select moments during the run, dancers from Company Wayne McGregor will bring the artworks to life, offering audiences a glimpse into their creative process. McGregor’s On the Other Earth installation is so large it’s being shown at Stone Nest in the West End. Inside the panoramic environment, hyperreal, AI-powered dancers are brought to life alongside cutting-edge soundscapes and 3D visuals.

The Somerset House exhibition features collaborations with world-leading artists, designers and musicians, including fashion designer Gareth Pugh, visual artist Theresa Baumgartner, photographer Indigo Lewin, and filmmaker Ruth Hogben. “The relationship between body, time and space is something we’re navigating all the time. We do it in dance, but we can learn a lot from how these experiences allow us to see a different version of our physical lives,” McGregor told The Guardian. 

1. The Willows

Open now until 7 December 2025
Location: Los Angeles, US
Experience Sector: Immersive Dining  

The Willows, one of America’s most talked-about immersive theatre experiences, is back with a bigger and bolder incarnation, elevating the sinister psychological drama to chilling new heights. Set in the Beckett Mansion in LA, it invites 25 guests each performance into an eerily intimate family gathering where nothing, and no one, is quite what it seems. With a runtime of two hours and seven narrative tracks unfolding simultaneously, the production offers a deeply personalised journey, blending the emotional intimacy of dinner theatre with the psychological suspense of murder mysteries and the interactivity of escape rooms.

Transporting guests into the dark heart of the Willows family, who have gathered to celebrate the life of the recently departed Jonathan, the experience, created by JFI Productions, blurs the lines between theatre and reality. As active participants in the evening’s events, audience members are split into groups and become entwined in an unfolding narrative. Delving into the mysteries and dynamics of the dysfunctional family, guests experience the unfolding events from multiple perspectives. Described as “LA’s creepiest dinner experience,” The Willows has redefined the immersive theatre genre with its innovative approach and slick production, and is one of the hottest tickets in town.