London has a whole range of immersive experiences to get stuck into – and the city’s offering is set to get even bigger. Europe’s biggest immersive art experience is coming to the Big Smoke later this year.
Last year, we reported on the news that the team behind Wake The Tiger had plans to open a new immersive experience in west London’s Westfield shopping centre.
Now, we can reveal that the London experience has a name and opening date. It’ll be called Absurd City and it will open on October 15 2026.Tickets for the mega attraction go on sale today (July 21) and you can get your hands on a ticket via the website here.
Absurd City takes over the enormous 80,000 sq ft space that formerly housed interactive play space KidZania. The London opening follows the success of Wake The Tiger’s Bristol attraction, Dream Factory, which has welcomed over half a million visitors from over 70 different countries since opening in 2022.
So how will the experience work? Visitors to Absurd City (known as ‘daytrippers’), are invited to ditch reality and enter a cityscape that apparently operates with completely different rules to our own. While most of what will actually go on at the attraction is still under wraps, the creators have revealed there will be four distinct districts you can explore. You can expect secret passageways, hands-on installations and storytelling. The creators say the attraction is suitable for all ages and abilities.
If you happen to shopping in Westfield this week, you can get a sneak peak of what‘s to come. To mark today’s ticket launch, a double decker bus inspired by Absurd City will be at Westfield Square – the outdoor area near Wood Lane station – from Wednesday July 22 to Tuesday July 28. The free public installation will give Londoners a first chance to step inside Absurd City.
Luke Mitchell, the company’s chief creative officer and co-founder, said there was ‘no blueprint’ for Absurd City, calling it a ‘beautifully chaotic process driven by some of the UK’s finest underground artists, robotic experts and makers’. He added: ‘We’ve built a cosmic, eccentric and deeply human playground that we can’t wait for London to explore.’
Absurd City will open on Thursday October 15 2026 at Westfield London, Ariel Way, W12 7GF
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