Wake The Tiger Opens Absurd City Immersive Art Attraction at Westfield London

The 80,000-square-foot, two-floor experience introduces five interactive districts and an unfolding dystopian story to the capital's leisure scene

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Absurd City opened on 15 October 2026 at Westfield London in the former KidZania space.
• The 80,000-square-foot attraction spans two floors and five interactive story-driven districts.
• Wake The Tiger has expanded its immersive-art concept beyond its Bristol venue, which opened in 2022.
• The attraction offers general admission, adult-only After Hours sessions and a themed bar and kitchen.

A shopping-centre visit in west London can now include a journey through a fictional city whose streets are shaped by climate breakdown, corporate power and underground resistance. Wake The Tiger opened Absurd City at Westfield London on 15 October 2026, extending the Bristol-based immersive-art operator’s concept into an 80,000-square-foot attraction built for exploration rather than a fixed ride sequence.

Spread across two floors and five themed districts, the experience occupies the former KidZania premises. Its creators have reimagined the space as the fantastical world of Meridia, where visitors, known as Daytrippers, are welcomed by the fictional travel agency Get Gone Travel and gradually encounter the tensions beneath the city’s colourful surface. The attraction is designed to combine walk-through sets, theatrical interaction, visual art and a developing story, giving London visitors a new indoor activity that can be explored at their own pace.

A fictional metropolis with five competing identities

At the centre of Absurd City’s narrative is REX, a friendly dog-shaped digital interface whose insistence that everything is fine contrasts with the troubles faced by the city. The plot centres on the Wunderground, a resistance movement attempting to protect the energy source that powers a domed settlement established after a climate catastrophe. Performers may appear during staged outages and other moments, turning exploration into an encounter with the storyline rather than a conventional gallery visit.

Each district develops a different aspect of the fictional society. Bloom Street satirises consumer culture through its Cutting Corner(s) Shop, Mock Exchange and advertising displays. Reclamia imagines residents finding new uses for discarded materials; Imaginopolis places surreal art and creative expression at the heart of its environment. Neon//Nexus explores attempts to restore nature, while Elite HQ represents the powerful residents accused in the storyline of controlling REX and taking the city’s Genny energy supply. Hidden rooms and passageways invite guests to search beyond the most obvious displays.

In coverage published by IAAPA, Wake The Tiger co-founder and chief creative officer Luke Mitchell described the London opening as a chance for the public to enter a rule-breaking city the team had imagined for years. The ambitious new venue also offers an indication of how immersive attractions are blending theatre, art installations and visitor-led discovery into a single leisure experience.

From Bristol’s Amazement Park to a larger London venue

The new opening builds on Wake The Tiger’s Bristol attraction, which debuted in July 2022, and the wider creative background of the team associated with the Boomtown Fair music festival. Chief executive and co-founder Graham MacVoy said the larger London site gives the company more room to elaborate its parallel-world storytelling and encourage interaction. The creative approach draws on the values the company describes as inspire, believe and disrupt.

The attraction uses fantastical scenarios to touch on real-world concerns, including environmental pressures, reuse of resources and concentration of power. That approach extends to creative upcycling within the venue, its ethically minded retail offer and a plant-based food selection at the Wunderground Bar & Kitchen.

For families, groups and other visitors planning a London outing, the venue’s official website describes more than 100 spaces and interactions, with three or more hours suggested for exploration. General admission covers the five districts, while the operator also advertises adult-only After Hours visits. School visits are offered, and calmer sessions are listed as coming soon. The Wunderground Bar & Kitchen can be visited without an attraction ticket, according to the operator.

With its central narrative, varied environments and open-ended route, Absurd City joins London’s indoor entertainment offering as an experience that asks visitors to piece together the story as they go. Its opening also marks a significant expansion for Wake The Tiger from its original Bristol location into one of the capital’s major shopping and leisure destinations.