Welcome to this month’s round-up of Extraordinary Experiences across all experience sectors and around the globe.
With January finally behind us we’re into the shortest month of the year, but that doesn’t mean that there’s any lack of extraordinary experiences taking place around the globe. The planet and our place within it is put under the microscope this month, with Somerset House in London digging deep into the importance of soil for sustaining life.
At the Old Royal Naval College you can gawp at the surface of the sun in magnificent detail courtesy of installation artist Luke Jerram’s giant glowing orb, Helios. In Zurich, mixed media artist of the moment Refik Anadol is shining a light on global warming through a multi-sensory, AI-powered, ever-evolving artwork called Glacier Dreams.
Speaking of dreams, their power to shock and delight is unpicked at a show in New York that includes a short film by artist-turned-novelist Miranda July, while Gustav Klimt is given the immersive treatment at a gold-drenched show in Singapore, and printmaker Hokusai is thrillingly brought to life in Tokyo with the help of haptics.
Love them or loathe them, immersive experiences aren’t going anywhere this year if February’s round-up is anything to go by. A year in the making, the immersive John Wick experience will be blazing a trail in Vegas this month, opening on Valentine’s Day.
Meanwhile, Secret Cinema founder Fabien Riggall is back with immersive theatre experience Azira in the ancient oasis city of AlUla in Saudi Arabia. Best of all, sublime 45-minute joyride You Me Bum Bum Train has returned to a secret West End venue for its biggest, boldest show yet. Kudos to you if you manage to bag a golden ticket.
18. Helios
Open now until 25 March 2025
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Immersive Art
If you’ve been missing the warmth of the sun during the chilly winter months then installation artist Luke Jerram’s bold new artwork Helios should help to brighten your day. The giant glowing orb will be making its London debut at the Old Royal Naval College’s suitably spectacular Painted Hall. Spanning seven metres in length and height, the celestial installation takes its inspiration from Greek sun god Helios and pays homage to the closest star to the Earth’s profound impact on history and culture.
Every centimetre of the internally lit artwork represents 2,000km of the sun’s fiery expanse, giving viewers a rare opportunity to examine the sun’s surface in magnificent detail, taking in its spicules and filaments. Jerram created the work, which includes a surround sound composition by Duncan Speakman and Sarah Anderson, from NASA observations of the sun and the help of solar scientist, professor Lucie Green of UCL. On Valentine’s Day you can take part in a Tibetan sound therapy meditation session under the orb, while on 22 March space jams and cosmic cocktails will be the order of the day at a silent disco in the Painted Hall.
17. Netflix Bites
Opens: 20 February 2025
Location: Las Vegas, US
Experience Sector: Immersive Dining
Hot on the heels of a successful pop-up in LA, themed dining experience Netflix Bites is back with a bang, having launched a more permanent residency on the casino floor at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. With the tasty opening schedule for 20 February, the restaurant will be serving food inspired by some of Netflix’s most popular shows, including Stranger Things crispy chicken and waffle sliders served upside down, and a Bridgerton-themed Recency tea, complete with finger sandwiches, scones and pastries, which we’re expecting will be flawless.
Open seven days a week, in addition to dishes inspired by Netflix staples like Chef’s Table and Dinner Time Live With David Chang, the venue will feature immersive cuisine that takes cues from shows such as Squid Game, Love Is Blind, Nailed It! and The Floor Is Lava. On the drinks front, look out for the La Casa del Sangria cocktail with gold-dusted mint leaves served in a lockbox diners need to crack to code of to drink; and a Too Hot to Handle Bloody Mary that’s so spicy it comes with an oven glove.
16. De Toutes Beautés
Open now until 2027
Location: Paris, France
Experience Sector: Immersive Art
Seeking to chart the changing perceptions of beauty over the ages, and its role in different cultures, the Louvre’s ambitious new initiative, De Toutes Beautés, tells the stories of a hundred artworks found within the museum’s walls. Activated through a smartphone or tablet, the audio tour invites gallery goers to discover the rituals, objects and beauty practices of both men and women over a 10,000-year period. Created in collaboration with L’Oréal, the venture highlights the evolution of beauty through the ages and civilisations.
On show until 2027, De Toutes Beautés shows how much ancient civilisations continue to influence our modern understanding of beauty. You’ve only got to admire the rippling muscles on display among the museum’s Greco-Roman statues to see how little the beauty ideals have deviated when it comes to the perfect male form. While Botticelli’s three graces, with their flawless skin, elegant figures and golden locks continue to set the beauty standard of aspirational femininity, which is still largely dictated by a Westernised male gaze.
15. Kagami
Opens: 19 February until 16 March 2025
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Experience Sector: Mixed Reality
Fans of the late Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto are being given the chance to experience his magic once again through the power of mixed reality. The Melbourne Arts Centre is hosting a series of concerts created by Tokyo-born Sakamoto in collaboration with mixed reality pioneers Tin Drum. Called Kagami, meaning ‘mirror’ in Japanese, the moving performance fuses dimensional photography with the real world in an MR presentation. Sakamoto’s diverse résumé includes pioneering electronic works with Yellow Magic Orchestra, numerous classical compositions, two operas and nearly 45 original film scores.
This transportive experience sees audience members don optically transparent glasses that fuse three-dimensional moving images with the real world to view a virtual version of Sakamoto performing on the piano alongside dimensional art aligned with the music and a scent specially created for the concert, which features 10 original Sakamoto compositions. The result is an intimate encounter with Sakamoto and an otherworldly mixed reality experience that removes any barriers between the performance, the audience and the artist
14. Soil
Open now until 13 April 2025
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Immersive Learning
How often do we stop to contemplate the ground beneath our feet? Almost never, but this ground-breaking (if you’ll permit us the pun) exhibition at Somerset House sets out to change that. Uniting visionary artists, writers, musicians and scientists from around the globe to explore the remarkable power and potential of soil, through a range of sensory artworks, historical objects, scientific artefacts and documentary evidence, visitors are invited to reconsider the crucial role soil plays in our planet’s health. Running in tandem with the exhibition is a series of soil-themed events, from a soundscape making workshop that seeks to create an audiovisual soil collage, to seed bomb workshops and an ikebana masterclass.
The exhibition aims to inspire and educate visitors about the power and the fragility of soil, its fundamental role in human civilisation, and its remarkable potential to heal our planet, delivering a message of hope by encouraging a more sustainable, harmonious relationship with the Earth, while highlighting the need to take action now. At once startling, enthralling and highly original, the show digs deep into the importance of soil as a food source and the need to protect and increase soil health for future generations. With an ecosystem as diverse as the night sky, put quite simply, without healthy soil, life on Earth cannot be sustained.
13. FloridaRAMA
Open now
Location: Florida, US
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
Immersive art experience Fairgrounds St. Pete has rebranded itself as FloridaRAMA. The bold new space now includes a café, bar and a free to access art gallery hosting playful exhibits and monthly shows inspired by original Florida stories, alongside a plethora of interactive experiences, kicking off with Bliss curated by Chad Mize. The venue has also added work and event spaces to its repertoire, and is expanding its entertainment offerings, from talks to festivals, turning the space into the definitive arts destination in the Tampa Bay area.
Created in collaboration with more than 75 local artists, FloridaRAMA dials up the fun and whimsy, delivering a much-needed escape from reality by transporting you to bright and brave new worlds. Among the most curious is shrimp-themed attraction, Shrimpfinity, which is as bonkers as the name suggests. The venue is putting on a jam-packed roster of love-themed events for V Day, including scavenger hunts, immersive date nights and a Love Bites dessert crawl to the Flirt-O-Rama singles event, where you can indulge in many a sweet treat.
12. Blue Zone Retreat
Opens: 21-27 February 2025
Location: Papagayo Peninsula, Costa Rica
Experience Sector: Travel and Wellness
With the quest for eternal life ramping up, we all want in on the secrets behind how to live longer in good health. Tapping into this trend, you can learn from the experts at various blue zone retreats around the globe, from Okinawa in Japan to the Italian island of Sardinia, which are home to an unusually high proportion of centenarians. This month the retreat takes travellers to the Papagayo Peninsula in Costa Rica for a week of transformative workshops, cooking classes and wellbeing activities led by blue zones expert Celine Vadam, who will share research-backed insights to help you live a longer, happier, more purposeful life.
Taking place close to the blue zone region of Nicoya, in between mountain hikes and breathwork sessions, over the course of the retreat Vadam will reveal the longevity secrets of centenarians from the world’s blue zones, from what they eat to what motivates them to get out of bed in the morning, while digging into the Power9 Principles. By the end of it, the aim is to have equipped all participants with the practical tools to reshape their environment so the healthy choice becomes the easy choice, increasing energy levels and overall wellbeing.
11. Gustav Klimt – Falling In Gold
Open now
Location: Singapore
Experience Sector: Immersive Art
For lovers of all that glitters, if you find yourself in Singapore, then a new immersive retrospective of Gustav Klimt is worth diving into. Exploring the life of the Austrian artist, Gustav Klimt – Falling in Gold goes way beyond his most famous painting – The Kiss – offering visitors a detailed look at the life of the artist and the inspirations behind his glittering works. Spanning two floors and 500 square metres, the show makes use of 360° projection technology and interactive features to bring Klimt’s artworks to life in glorious technicolour.
Born in 1862 in Baumgarten, near Vienna, Klimt was one of the founders of the Vienna Succession movement, which was heavily influenced by Art Nouveau. He is best known for his Golden Phase from 1901 to 1909, during which he incorporated gold into his portraits, many of which were of women. Completed in 1908, The Kiss is one such work, which Klimt embellished with gold leaf, imbuing the embracing couple with an otherworldly majesty. Each of the show’s seven rooms highlights a different aspect of Klimt’s Golden Phase. Look out for the virtual reality room, which explores the symbolism within his paintings.
10. ARC
Open now
Location: London
Experience Sector: Health and Wellness
We’ve heard the headlines declaring saunas and spas to be the new pubs and bars, and 2025 might be the year when communal wellness goes mainstream. Spearheading the trend is ARC, London’s latest social wellness club, which has just opened its pristine doors in Canary Wharf. Set across 5,000sq m, the sleek urban bathhouse is aiming to reimagine the traditional spa experience through a blend of contrast therapy, breathwork, sound healing and movement in a thoughtfully designed space that strives to foster deep connections among its attendees. Plans are already afoot for a sister site in Marylebone later this year.
The Canary Wharf flagship features the UK’s largest sauna with room for 65, eight two-person Brass Monkey ice baths, an amphitheatre-style lounge with an eye-catching central wooden installation, and mixed-gender changing rooms. In a bid to remain accessible, guests can book one-off sauna sessions rather than needing to splash out on an annual membership to enjoy the facilities. Inspired by US concepts Othership and Remedy Place, ARC offers 13 classes tailored for energy boosts, relaxation, athletic recovery and dopamine resets curated by neuroscientist Alanna Kit.
9. Hemingway Paris Adventure
Opens: 17 February until 31 March 2025
Location: Online
Experience Sector: Immersive Learning
If you’re a fan of Hemingway but aren’t in a position to follow in his footsteps in Paris, then this clever concept brings his moveable feast to you. The six-week online adventure allows attendees to travel back to 1920s Paris with the then-young American novelist as your guide. You’ll be sent a Hemingway Paris Adventure Kit in the post, which includes everything you need to bring the story to life, from a limited-edition hardcover copy of A Moveable Feast and a sketch book, to a map of 1920s Paris highlighting the spots included in Hem’s memoir, taking attendees on a journey into an altered state of awareness and creative possibility.
Aiming to capture the authentic spirit of Hemingway’s Paris, the online course includes weekly activities such as mastering the art of noticing, find a pleasant café, writing one true sentence, and how to make a moveable feast. Coming along for the ride is JFK Library’s Hemingway Scholar in Residence Dr. Hilary Justice, who will bring Hemingway’s Paris to life through a different themed Zoom session each week that concludes at the end of March. The goal is to spark curiosity and awaken creativity within the minds of everyone who takes part.
8. I Woke Up Dreaming
Open now until 9 February 2025
Location: New York, US
Experience Sector: Immersive Art
Curated by Patricia Margarita Hernández, I Woke Up Dreaming at New York’s A.I.R Gallery asks artists to reflect on the blurred boundary between performance and daily life. Bringing together works by 17 artists across an array of mediums, including video, sculpture, performance, painting, and printmaking that engage with dreaming as a process of questioning and reshaping reality, the show creates a liminal space for emotional exploration that asks viewers to embrace the contradictory nature of dreams, and their dual capacity for joy and terror, fantasy and truth, where conventional binaries can be called into question.
Celebrating the ambiguity and richness of dreaming, where the familiar becomes unsettling, the mundane is illuminated and the boundaries of possibility are stretched, the exhibition asks viewers to consider the emotional residue of their own dreams and the way they linger, haunt and inspire. Taking its title from a 1978 song by Lydia Lunch’s band Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, I Woke Up Dreaming uses the dream state as a metaphor for exploring the disorientation many of us feel as we find ourselves caught between the opposing worlds of digital entanglements and analogue experiences. Don’t miss short film The Amateurist by Miranda July of All Fours fame, which probes the voyeuristic nature of contemporary life.
7. Hokusai: Another Story
Open now until 1 June 2025
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Experience Sector: Immersive Art
Japanese painter and printmaker Hokusai is the latest artist to enter the immersive frame at a dedicated solo show in Tokyo that will see his works become accessible to the next generation of art lovers. Called Hokusai: Another Story, the exhibition at the Tokyu Plaza Shibuya celebrates Edo period artist Katsushika Hokusai’s fascinating life and diverse body of work, exploring its lasting impact on Western art. Among the works under the spotlight is iconic print The Great Wave off Kanagawa, which currently graces Japan’s new 1,000-yen bill.
The show takes visitors on a journey back to the Japan Hokusai inhabited and the multicoloured woodblock ukiyo-e prints he created depicting everyday life in the Edo period. Using ultra-high-definition image data and Sony’s Crystal LED displays, the experience brings Hokusai’s famous works to life in stunning detail. Enhancing the immersion further, advanced sensors and Sony’s tactile haptic tech creates sensations that transcend physical boundaries, such as stepping on puddles and sandy beaches, so visitors can experience the scenery and feel the same sensations as Hokusai, allowing them to step inside his world, taking in everything from illustrated books and decorative prints to his famous views of Mount Fuji.
6. In The Dark
Open now until 28 March 2025
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Audio Experience
Listening sessions in the dark are having a bit of a moment around the globe right now. The latest collective to dim the lights is In the Dark, a live music experience that strips away all visual distractions, allowing audiences to connect with music in its purest form in intimate venues. This month kicks off a new series of events in St. Bartholomew The Great church in London’s Smithfield; one of the city’s oldest churches, and Chain Store in Trinity Buoy Wharf. It’s a show that demands the audience’s full attention and serves as a sensory reset.
The hour-long show, where musicians perform live in complete darkness and the audience wears sleep masks, is hoping to redefine how we listen to and experiences live music, allowing people to pick up on details they would otherwise miss due to sensory deprivation. The concert is performed by a collective of professional musicians who rework everything from ambient, Scandi and nu-folk to experimental and classical soundscapes using a hidden line-up of instruments, vocals and sounds. Both a personal and shared experience, the tracks are kept a secret to heighten the element of surprise and enhance the listening experience.
5. Behind The Scenes
Opens: 7-8 February 2025
Location: Paris, France
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
Back with a bang this year at the Palais de la Porte Dorée in Paris is l’Envers du Décor (Behind the Scenes) a two-day art and performance extravaganza examining the history of this monument of the 1931 Colonial Exhibition from a critical perspective, mixing history and memory. This year, Behind the Scenes takes the form of two major evenings of performances celebrating the final days of the double exhibition Every Life is a Story. Performers, musicians and visual artists will turn the palace into a stage for artistic expression.
Poet and actress Jo Güstin will be celebrating black and queer culture in a retelling of the story of Adam and Eve, while Saphir Belkheir invites people to take part in a choreographed collaborative journey, and Amalia Laurent will be unfurling an immense dyed veil in the Forum, behind which, dancers will move to the rhythms of gongs, metallophones and percussion. Examining the notion of attachment, Daniel Nicolaevsky will wrap and unwrap himself around taut ropes in the Forum to the Yoruba vocals of Nigerian artist Adeola.
4. Glacier Dreams
Open now until mid-2026
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Experience Sector: Immersive Learning
Istanbul-born, LA-based new media artist of the moment, Refik Anadol, is weaving his particular brand of magic in Zurich this month at Glacier Dreams. Using AI to shine a light on climate change, the multi-sensory work was created from over 100 million archive images and 10 million visuals of glaciers in Iceland, Greenland and the Antarctic. Highlighting their fragility and the need to take action now in order turn the tide, the immersive installation at the Kunsthaus engages the body from all angles.
Inviting visitors to take the time to reflect on the impact of melting glaciers, Anadol’s pixels recall the delicate daubs of paint in the works of Impressionist artist Claude Monet, whose ethereal waterlilies are also on show at the Kunsthaus. Using his ‘data painting’ technique, rather than presenting static images, Anadol’s work takes on ever-changing forms in a constant state of flux, much like the glaciers themselves, calling into question the idea of an artwork as a completed entity, and making climate change feel hauntingly tangible.
3. John Wick Immersive Experience
Opens: 14 February 2025
Location: Las Vegas, US
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
The wait is over: the John Wick immersive experience, which combines immersive cinematic environments with interactive missions, has finally landed in Las Vegas. Taking place at the Continental Hotel in AREA15, as soon as you cross the threshold you’ll be thrown into an action-packed mission with several encounters that will enhance your experience. As you meet the manager and hotel staff, you’ll have to be a quick judge of character and decide if they are a friend or a foe. If you make the wrong choice, there will be consequences.
To bring it to life, Lionsgate partnered with the creative minds at Egan Productions, the firm behind a Saw franchise escape room and a haunting recreation of The Blair Witch Project. After you decide if you’ll obey the rules of the Continental Hotel or defy The High Table, you’ll be able to enjoy themed drinks at the John Wick Bar before exiting via the gift shop. The experience aims to thrust you into the captivating world inspired by the John Wick movie franchise, where loyalty is tested, alliances are forged, and danger is always close.
2. Azira: The Immersive Experience
Open now
Location: AlUla, Saudi Arabia
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
Secret Cinema founder Fabien Riggall has ventured deep into the Middle East for his latest venture Azira: The Immersive Experience, which is currently blazing a trail in AlUla, an ancient oasis city in Saudi Arabia. Backed by the Royal Commission for AlUla, the 90-minute immersive theatre experience was created by Riggall’s new firm, LOST. Combining an original soundtrack, an original story and a group of modern dance performers and actors, the narrative is centred around a female action hero, the daughter of an archaeologist who is seeking to uncover the secrets of a dark ancient city under the sands of AlUla.
“She follows in her father’s footsteps to discover this whole new world,” Riggall told Variety. “My interest is developing a studio that will work within the region to develop stories from there with young talent, and to essentially develop new formats for films.” This debut experience in Saudi is a stepping stone for Rigall, who wants to make a big splash in the Middle East. “It starts with an IP and a story, but what interests me is creating something that could have multiple angles in thinking about what an origin story looks like in that region,” he said. “It could be an immersive theatre show, an album, a game, a film, or a TV series.”
1. You Me Bum Bum Train
Open now until 26 April 2025
Location: London, UK
Experience Sector: Immersive Entertainment
Taking our top spot this month is a show that’s so secretive, it’s difficult to talk about. The sublime 45-minute joyride that is You Me Bum Bum Train is back bigger and bolder than ever this year, having taken up residence in a secret West End location. The physically challenging and intense immersive experience has become the hottest ticket in town and can only be scored via a ballot. From the website we’re told that the production features periods of darkness, sudden drops and turns, strobe lighting, haze, the depiction of blood, nudity and scenes that some may find distressing, with participants entering at their own risk.
Due to ‘the high risk of harm’, pregnant women can’t attend, while some sections are unsuitable for those with claustrophobia, as there’s a chance of having to crawl and climb through confined spaced. All ‘passengers’ travel through the experience as solo travellers. Its shrouded secrecy – all who experience You Me Bum Bum Train have to sign an NDA – only adds to the appeal. Frequently described as a life-changing experience, one veteran passenger went as far to say that the shows were the most memorable moments of his life. Created by university friends Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd, the show guides people through a series of weird, wonderful and incredibly realistic experiences brought to life by actors, where they get to inhabit a variety of personas, offering a safe space to let loose.
Demanding every ounce of attention from its participants, the experience takes you through a series of extraordinarily realised, whiplash-inducing scenes created with impeccable detail. Some are out of context everyday occurrences, others are heart-quickening situations most of us never experience. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself sat next to an equally bewildered A-lister riding the train with you. To get the best out of it you need to place all your trust in the organisers. If you do, you’ll be rewarded with an exhilarating, revelatory experience that might just change the way you view the world and how you move through it. Best of all, it gives people carte blanche to be big kids again and act entirely on instinct.
