Welcome to this month’s round-up of Extraordinary Experiences across all experience sectors and around the globe.
We’re into October, which can mean only one thing: spooky season is upon us. As those of us in the Northern Hemisphere start layering up and ordering pumpkin spiced lattes, experience designers around the globe have been busy putting the finishing touches on their Halloween activations, and it looks like we’re in for a treat.
In the UK Shocktober Fest will be taking over a farm in West Sussex, filing it with fire-breathers, axe throwers, electric chairs and haunted houses. Across town in London, Phantom Peak has turned its frontier town into Hallowed Peak; a land of ghosts, ghouls, spooky spectres and the odd monster on the loose.
But it’s not just Brits having all the spine-tinging fun. In San Francisco’s SoMa district, the House of Spirits cocktail experience combines storytelling with live performance, allowing revellers to commune with restless spirts via a giant Ouija board. And in New York, Mercer Labs is delving into the darkness of the human psyche, exploring the role of nightmares and the subconscious on art history.
Contrasting with all the darkness there are plenty of light-hearted experiences launching this month, such as the Museum of Candy in Dubai; a Wonka-like dream featuring sweets on tap, a cotton candy bath and a gummy bear pool. But fear not, as we’ve been assured that there won’t be an Oompa Loompa in sight…
Everyone’s favourite brick-maker, Lego, will be taking its colourful creations on tour this month and encouraging kids to embrace the transformative power of play via an art studio takeover in Paris, a playable library in China, and a restaurant pop-up in Japan. While in Montreal you can follow the adventures of comic book hero Tintin and his trusty sidekick Snowy in a new immersive experience.
Rounding off this month’s more playful experiences are two exciting new launches in the US: the Dopeameme Institute at AREA15 in Las Vegas and Meow Wolf’s Radio Tave in Texas. The former is a story-driven experience designed to give you a dopamine rush. The latter is an explorable radio station full of hidden paths and portals boasting next level soundscapes and a honkytonk bar.
21. Shocktober Fest
Opens: 4 October until 2 November 2024
Location: West Sussex, UK
Experience Sector: Scare Attractions
Kicking off scare season in style is Shocktober Fest, which takes over Tulleys Farm in East Sussex for a month of spine-tingling attractions, live shows, adrenaline-pumping rides, live music, dance-offs, street performers, fire-breathers, and scarily good food in a festival-like atmosphere. Ramping up the realism are live actors and immersive scenery that plunges you into the bleeding heart of the action. Taking centre stage this year will be the CarnEvil Cabaret live show, featuring sinister burlesque acts, eerie illusions and jaw-dropping stunts.
We also like the sound of the Purgatory experience set in an abandoned 19th century manor house, and creepy Halloween dinner The Carving, where things take a dark turn when the clock strikes nine. The festival is also home to 11 terrifying mazes, including Electric Circus, led by Sparky the Clown and his army of undead performers, the Chop Shop car garage run by chainsaw-wielding maniacs, and sensory deprivation experience Hell-ements. On the ride front you’ll find high voltage shock chairs, a slingshot ride, a spinning waltzer and axe throwing.
20. Squid Game: The Experience NYC
Opens: 11 October 2024
Location: New York, US
Experience Sector: Competitive Socialising
New York-based fans of competitive socialising are in for a treat this months as a live action version of Netflix smash Squid Game lands in the Big Apple. Called Squid Game: The Experience, the immersive experience based on the hit Korean TV show will also be rolled out in Europe and Asia before the start of the new season in December. Its NYC iteration will take over the Manhattan Mall in the centre of the city and will allow participants to test their skills through a series of challenges.
The infamous ‘Front Man’, the head jailer, will be on hand to supervise the events, including the iconic ‘Red Light, Green Light’ game. In addition to challenges, the experience will include ‘Squid Mart’, a night market serving up Korean-inspired dishes, snacks and cocktails that pays homage to Korean grocery stores. Squid gamers will also be able to buy collectibles and souvenirs and take photos throughout. The launch is part of Netflix’s plan to expand its immersive offering.
19. Museum Of Candy
Opens: Soon
Location: Dubai UAE
Experience Sector: Musuems, Immersive Entertainment
If you have a sweet tooth and are planning a trip to Dubai then be sure to swing by the soon-to-open Museum of Candy, where guests can enjoy free-flowing candy, a cotton candy bath and a gummy bear pool. It sounds like a Willy Wonka fantasy come to life, and we’re here for it. The interactive space will boast 15 themed rooms dedicated to different sweets, from candy canes, gummy bears and lollipops to cotton candy, macarons and ice cream. There will also be the chance to learn the history and science behind your favourite sweet treats.
Highlights include candy stations, interactive games, photo opps and a café serving milkshakes, ice cream, and much-needed coffee for the adults. “Dubai has always been home to brilliant ideas and tourist attractions backed by technology, science and innovation,” a spokesperson for the museum said. “We want everyone to stop by for delightful moments, engage in interactive experiences and relive their childhood.” Fingers crossed there won’t be any echoes of the ill-fated Wonka experience…
18. Overnightmare
Opens: October 18-20
Location: Colorado, US
Sector: Immersive experiences
Fancy staying in a legendary horror location this Halloween season? Now you can, as Peacock and Blumhouse take over the Stanley Hotel, the place that inspired Stephen King’s novel The Shining for an “immersive overnight experience”. Before guests check in, they can select a room relating to one of four Blumhouse films and with a different scare level: Insidious, The Purge, Freaky, and Happy Death Day. They’ll then receive a scare experience related to the movie, as well as a two-night stay in The Lodge, dinners and drinks, nightly film screenings, and surprise interactive moments and photo opps.
17. Caberet Rive Gauche
Opens: 2 October 2024
Location: Paris, France
Experience Sector: Live Events, Immersive Entertainment
Glad rags at the ready, as critically acclaimed immersive adventure Cabaret Rive Gauche created by Sculpteurs de Rêves in partnership with Tempora returns to the Musée Maillol this month, allowing revellers to party like it’s 1951. Channelling the spirit of Parisian polymath Boris Vian, the Saint-Germain experience puts partygoers at the heart of the action, bringing to life the legendary cabaret on the Fontaine des Quatre Saisons run by the Prévert brothers from 1951-56.
The experience takes guests back to 1951, when jazz and bebop reigned supreme. Run by the brilliant brains behind Apaches de Paris and Gatsby à Nice, Cabaret Rive Gauche combines theatre, role-playing and live performance. Inside, spectators are invited to interact with eight actors portraying emblematic figures of the era, including Boris Vian. You’re free to go at your own pace as the experience unfolds, participating as much or as little as you like in the live music and workshops.
16. The Call
Opens: 4 October until 2 February 2025
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Audio Experience, Immersive Entertainment
Berlin-based artists and musicians Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst, two of the most influential artists working with artificial intelligence today, will be taking over the Serpentine this autumn with their ground-breaking exhibition, The Call; their first solo UK show. The exhibition will address current societal concerns with AI, and will feature musical ensembles from across the UK in a participatory experience for the public. A central component of the exhibition are newly commissioned choral AI models trained in collaboration with choirs across the UK, from Bristol to Belfast.
The Call will both show how AI can enhance the power and artistry of the voice, and envisage the cultural, legal and technical methods necessary to build AI systems ethically. During the experience the audience becomes entwined with, and at times part of, the choir. “The Call is an audio-visual installation that merges poetry, music and collective responses from audiences in ways that test the creative limits of machine learning models and data training,” says Serpentine CEO, Bettina Korek, adding, “The role of art is to make the invisible visible.”
15. Black Lodge
Opens: 19 October
Location: Los Angeles, USA
Experience Sector: Immersive Theatre
CAP UCLA and Beth Morrison Projects have joined forces for Black Lodge: an immersive experience, film screening, glam rock opera and DJ set mash-up inspired by the mind-bending works of the surrealist writer WIlliam S Burroughs, taking place at the United Theatre in downtown LA. Described as “a Lynchian psychological escape room”, the event features glam opera band Timur & the Dime Museum alongside musicians of the Isaura String Quartet. Guests are invited to come dressed in their “spookiest finery and prepare for unexpected encounters around every corner”.
14. Dark Matter: Nightmare Before Midnight
Opens: 4 -30 October 2024
Location: New York, US
Experience Sector: Immersive Art
In a twist on the Halloween concept, Mercer Labs is shining a light on the darkness of the human psyche at its new temporary exhibition in New York. The brainchild of Roy Nachum, Dark Matter: Nightmare Before Midnight examines the role of darkness in art history, revealing how the subconscious has shaped artistic movements and expressed cultural anxieties across time. According to Nachum, “The exhibition is a mirror to our fears and fascinations with the unknown.”
The spooky show features 15 installations that investigate the themes of darkness and the unsettling realm of nightmares, inner demons and paranormal occurrences via immersive visuals, interactive displays, audio installations, oil painting and robots. “The nightmare and the supernatural drive the powerful audio-visual narratives, inviting visitors to confront their fears, explore darkness and to understand how darkness has shaped art, culture and the human experience,” Nachum said.
13. Lego Play Tour
Open: now
Locations: Paris, China, Japan, Australia, Berlin
Experience Sector: Themed Attractions
In lighter news, everyone’s favourite brick maker, Lego, is embarking on a global tour that promotes the power of play. Kicking off at Superpower Studios, an immersive art space in Paris, the tour includes various colourful activations around the world. In China Lego is creating the world’s most playable library featuring multiple floors to explore, including zones themed around space exploration. In Japan Lego will launch a playful, restaurant-themed pop-up event.
Across the pond in Australia, the brand is partnering with children’s entertainer Emma Watkins to reimagine a dance studio. With the help of Play Experts, Watkins will turn the studio into a vibrant space using Lego bricks. In Europe, the concept will pop up at the Berlin Festival of Lights, where Lego creations will be showcased at iconic spots like the Brandenburger Tor. The goal of the tour is to empower kids to embrace the transformative power of play and rebuild the world through it.
12. Tomorrowland Immersive Experience
Opens: 25 October 2024
Location: Madrid
Experience Sector: Music, VR, Immersive Entertainment
Electronic dance music festival Tomorrowland gets its own audio-visual experience dedicated to it in Madrid this month, which is open to all ages. Taking place at the WiZink Center, the experience will offer a new way to explore the various themes in the 20-year history of Tomorrowland, including The Story of Planaxis, The Book of Wisdom, and The Elixir of Life. The experience will delve into the festival’s history and will feature several digital installations that allow visitors to delve into some of Tomorrowland’s key features, values and objects through the power of VR.
Created and developed by the Tomorrowland and XR Music Hub teams, which were formed by Layers of Reality and Blanco y Negro Music, the experience will end with a gift shop where revellers can snap up a selection of Tomorrowland-themed merch. The project follows the launch of a similar immersive VR exhibition by Tomorrowland in Barcelona last year, which attracted over 40,000 visitors. “Bringing the Tomorrowland Immersive Experience to Madrid has been a milestone in our scalability plans,” said Jordi Sellas, artistic director of Layers of Reality.
11. Hallowed Peak – The Lunar Festival
Open now until 10 November 2024
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Themed Attractions, Immersive Entertainment
Phantom Peak just got spookier with the launch of its Halloween-themed immersive world, Hallowed Peak inside its 30,000 square foot frontier town. To get there, attendees will be sent through a portal where they will encounter dozens of live actors. The limited-time event will see the town plagued by ghouls, spectres and oddly familiar monsters. Visitors will be tasked with unearthing the dark secrets boiling under the surface of the town, which will feature ten new terrifying trails.
Players will have their spines chilled by possessions, ghastly truths from the past, summonings, and a mysteriously disturbed grave. Look out for a monster on the loose too. A spooky séance can be added to your ticket. Offering access to an abandoned lab, it gives you a chance to commune with the dead and receive some helpful advice on your game trail. There’s also a costume contest with prizes up for grabs for those with the most shocking fashion sense.
10. Dopeameme Institute For Pleasure Research
Open now
Location: Las Vegas, US
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
Designer toy brand Superplastic is behind a heart-racing new attraction at AREA15 in Las Vegas called the Dopeameme Institute for Pleasure Research (or D.I.P.R for short). The cutting-edge experiential project creates vinyl art toys and digital experiences using its original characters. Superplastic’s first-ever physical location offers an immersive, story-driven experience designed to trigger a dopamine rush among its guests. During the 40-minute adventure, attendees will journey through mind-bending rooms and enjoy interactive visual, audio and tactile experiences.
At the end, they will receive a personalised digital profile with photos of their best dance moves and a recommended Dopeameme ‘prescription’ that can be bought at a shop selling Superplastic merch. The brand is known for its high-profile collaborations with the likes of Gucci, Fortnite and Post Malone. “D.I.P.R. marks a major leap in Superplastic’s mission to expand our digital dreams and IP character universe into an unforgettable, IRL experience,” CEO Jennifer van Dijk said.
9. Berlin Festival Of Lights
Opens: 4-13 October 2024
Location: Berlin, Germany
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
Marking its 20th anniversary, the Festival of Lights returns to Berlin this month, where it will be illuminating the city’s iconic buildings, landmarks and neighbourhoods with gorgeous audio-visual displays. This year’s theme is ‘celebrating freedom’, telling stories big and small about the freedom that makes Berlin such a vibrant creative metropolis. Among the landmarks to be set aglow will be the Berlin TV Tower and St Mary’s Church.
On 8-9 October Berlin Cathedral will be the setting for a one-off musical experience: Paul van Dyk presents Escape Reality. In this world premiere, van Dyk will reinterpret highlights of his career in an ambient live set. Listeners can expect a dreamy light and video installation in the sanctuary of the domed cathedral. Launched in 2005, the Festival of Lights features a variety of light installations, artistic projections and 3D mappings created by both local and international artists from 7-11pm each night.
8. Tintin, The Immersive Experience
Opens: 4 October 2024
Location: Montreal, Canada
Experience Sector: Themed Attractions, Immersive Entertainment
Intrepid young investigative reporter Tintin and his faithful sidekick Snowy the fox terrier are being given the immersive treatment this month. The creation of Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi (who wrote under the pen name Hergé), Tintin, The Immersive Adventure will take over Arsenal Contemporary Art Montreal in a collaboration between Vibrant Studios, Culturespaces and Tintinimagination. Exploring the works of one of the greatest comic book authors of the 20th century, the experience spans from Tintin’s first adventure in 1929 to his latest exploits.
Featuring over 2,000 images from 24 volumes of Tintin books, Tintin’s universe will come to life through iconic sets, a spectacular musical score and 360° projections. The experience begins with two thematic rooms full of Tintin comic book covers through time. Fans will then be taken on a journey by the reporter through land, sea, space, air and underwater, to follow in his footsteps, where they’ll meet famous characters including Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus and bumbling detectives Thomson and Thompson before swinging by the gift shop for some Tintin merch.
7. Making A Rukus
Opens: 11 October 2024 until 19 January 2025
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Immersive Art
This month Somerset House will be shining a light on the joy, friendship, resistance and creative endeavours of Black LGBTQ+ people in Britain at Making a Rukus through the playful, radical and disruptive world of the Rukus federation, an art project and living archive exploring contemporary Black LGBTQ+ cultural and political history. Curated by artist and co-founder of the Rukus federation, Topher Campbell, the show explores Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans creativity, activism, community and pride through contemporary artworks and short films.
It begins by exploring how an artistic collaboration between two friends: Campbell and pioneering photographer Ajamu, led to the creation of Rukus federation via videos, photos and newspaper clippings. The second room features posters, flyers, magazine articles and clothing telling the story of how Black LGBTQ+ artists and activists continue to create space for themselves while resisting the twin hostilities of homophobia and racism. Room three is an immersive club-like space for visitors to explore, where performance artist Evan Ifekoya will restage an interactive body of work called ‘A Score, A Groove, A Phantom’.
6. House Of Spirits
Opens: 11 October until 2 November 2024
Location: San Francisco, US
Experience Sector: Themed Attractions
Keeping things suitably spooky on the West Coast this month is House of Spirits in San Francisco, a cocktail experience combining storytelling, live performances, and themed cocktails inside a mysterious mansion in the SoMa district. Produced by Fever and Justin and Melissa Meyer of Meyer2Meyer Entertainment, guests are invited to step into Volkov Manor for a two-hour journey into the strange. Inside you’ll get to learn about the eerie psychiatrist and hypnotist Doctor Grigor Volkov and his wife, Dr. Natalia Volkov, and what happened when his orphaned nieces and nephews came to live at the manor.
Things soon take a sinister turn – there are lingering souls on the property that the children come into contact with, but these former patients of Volkov aren’t there to frighten them; they want to warn them of the Midnight Man, a malevolent presence that wanders the manor and is very much up to no good. Revellers are free to roam the property and uncover the manor’s strange secrets while getting up close and personal with restless spirits through the powers of a giant Ouija board. Dressing up is encouraged and four cocktails are included in the ticket price.
5. Anemoia
Opens: 10 October 2024
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
We’re very intrigued by the sound of this non-verbal immersive experience in a secret station near Tokyo station. Masterminded by immersive theatre company Dazzle, Anemoia interprets Japanese aesthetics with a modern sensibility and reconstructs them alongside cutting-edge tech to create a memorable experience. Fusing art and entertainment, the experience features strange figures hastily boarding a train to a destination between life and death where they’ve gone in search of those they have lost.
Once they disembark, they may never be able to return to the safety of the real world. To create the experience, Dazzle collaborated with nine visionary artists from Japan and around the globe. More than a show, Anemoia is an art experience that immerses viewers in a world of media art, making them part of the narrative in daring new ways. The fashion-meets-performance experience includes costumes by Junya Kawakami of Seven by Seven and Takeshi Kitazawa of Dressed Undressed.
4. Underground: The Summoning
Open: Now until 3 November 2024
Location: Singapore
Experience Sector: Scare Attractions
Adrenaline junky horror enthusiasts can get their pulses racing at Singapore’s largest immersive horror experience, Underground: The Summoning. Set in the historic Battlebox World War II bunker spanning 12,000 sq. ft. beneath Fort Canning, it’s Singapore’s first experiential horror event to be hosted fully underground. Built in 1938 and recently reopened after a refurbishment, the historic bunker now serves as the stage for the adventure, which promises a chilling narrative of soldiers beset by demonic rituals, brought to life through live performances and special effects.
The brainchild of Super Productions and Theatre of Wonder, the experience is set in January 1942 with the impending invasion of Japanese forces. In desperation, British army officers turn to an ancient book of summoning for help, unleashing chaos as Bellum, the demon lord of war, and his minions take over the bunker. Not for the faint-hearted, the 45-minute horror-fantasy experience takes groups through a maze-like labyrinth of terror, where every decision will dictate their fate and they must rely on their wits to survive on their journey to defeating Bellum.
3. Riyadh Season 2024
Opens: 12 October 2024
Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Experience Sector: Live Events
The popular Riyadh Season is back with a bang for a fifth year this month. The jam-packed programme of sporting events, exhibitions, theatrical performances and live music will take place within an area of over 7.2 million square meters. With capacity for 27,000 spectators, the Kingdom Arena zone will host a rematch between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk and the 2024 African Super Cup final. New area The Venue will be home to seven events, including the Six King Slam, a tennis event featuring some of the world’s top players, and the WWE Crown Jewel. Adding a splash of glamour, designer Elie Saab will launch his Fall 2025 collection there.
Home to 300 restaurants and more than 1,400 shops, Boulevard World will have five new zones this year, including Turkey, Iran, Africa and French ski resort Courchevel. At Boulevard City legendary composer Hans Zimmer will perform some of his most iconic film soundtracks live on stage. The Wonder Garden is bigger than ever this year, with 40 restaurants, 60 shows and over 65 games for guests. A Christian Dior exhibition and museum will open in the historic Al-Murabba quarter, which will be home to a Dior café and a shop selling gowns. Sandboarding, camel riding, dune trekking and desert buggy excursions are also on offer.
2. Marilyn – The Exhibition
Opens: 17 October 2024 until 23 February 2025
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Exhibitions
If you’re intrigued by the charismatic enigma that is Marilyn Monroe then head to Arches London Bridge this month, where a new exhibition tries to shed light on the woman behind the myth. Marilyn – The Exhibition features 250 objects from Ted Stampfer’s collection – the world’s largest collector of Monroe’s historical objects – including love letters, movie props, scripts, childhood drawings, clothes, family photos, shoes, accessories, make-up and memorabilia from her London films.
The show promises an unprecedented insight into the world of Marilyn Monroe, from her early life as Norma Jean Baker to her transformation into a cultural icon. More than six decades after her death, Monroe remains one of the most influential figures in popular culture and an ongoing source of fascination and speculation inspiring films and documentaries that try to get to the heart of who she was. “Much has been written about Marilyn over the decades but no one can say with certainty what the truth is,” Stampfer says. Hopefully the show will get closer to it.
1. Meow Wolf Radio Tave
Opens: 31 October 2024
Location: Texas, US
Experience Sector: Themed Attractions, Immersive Entertainment
Meow Wolf is on the prowl again with a shiny new Texas venue that opens on Halloween. Nestled in Houston’s historic Fifth Ward, inside Radio Tave guests will be immersed in an explorable radio station that has crossed into another dimension full of labyrinthine paths, portals, hidden doors and multi-sensory mysteries. The venue, which features dozens of rooms designed by artists, including 50 from Texas, will play with sound and music. Radio Tave will also introduce a cast of new characters, and fans will spot familiar themes from the Meow Wolf universe.
The firm has already unveiled a surreal dive bar in the afterlife called Cowboix Hevvven for its new Houston destination. The honky-tonk establishment has a restaurant and bar where a jukebox will play songs by Texas artists. “The visuals and soundscapes are on another level. Visitors will be immersed in a rich, multi-sensory experience that invites them to explore a world that feels both vast and deeply personal,” said Meow Wolf’s senior creative producer, Susie Cowan. Meow Wolf has four exhibitions, in Santa Fe, Las Vegas, Denver and Grapevine.
