Considering that when Luna Park opened in 1935, the only other major attraction in Sydney was the Sydney Cricket Ground, the Art Deco amusement park has long been a significant site for the city – an important destination for escapism, especially considering it opened during the Depression. Although new rides have cropped up over the years, the heritage-listed park has retained a lot of its original features – which is why there’s been much hype since Luna Park announced that it would be opening a brand-new, first-of-its kind, high-tech attraction to appeal to new audiences and reignite Sydney’s love for the park. An immersive experience created right here by a bunch of talented Sydney creatives and technicians.
On December 22, Luna Park swings open the doors to a high-tech ‘Magic Box’ inside Luna Park’s existing 3,000 square metre Big Top building – a venue for the park’s first immersive adventure, ‘Dream Circus’.
Time Out got a sneak peek at Dream Circus before opening day, and we have to say, it’s hard to sum up in a few sentences what you’re in for. It’s part-3D movie, where actors take you on an adventure through the circus, to the seaside, underwater and into magical dream-like states. It’s part-musical, except that the action envelops you on three sides of the room, as well as the floor and ceiling. It’s a little like a Van Gogh Alive or Frida Kahlo multi-sensory exhibition, except that rather than images being projected onto flat wall and floor surfaces, the set is built with depth and structures and texture, so that the action pops out from the walls.
At times you feel like you’re in a plane taking off into the sky, or on the Big Dipper rollercoaster, reaching the high peaks and not knowing how far you’re about to dip. At other times you feel like you're at a post-modern AI-led concert in the future.
The result is an experience that has something to appeal to literally everyone – from little kids who will want to run around and feel the magic unfurl around them to adults (locals and tourists) who want a legitimately unique thrill for the first time.
Luna Park CEO John Hughes and his team knew they had to become “more than just rides”, and when thinking about the types of attractions that appeal most around the world today, they were inspired bythe immersive, multi-sensory experiences like Van Gogh Alive, The Museum of Ice Cream and the WNDR Museum.
They put together a team of Sydney-based creatives and technicians who have worked on some of the biggest creative projects in the world, from Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies to Marvel films, Vivid Sydney and location-based experiences like ABBA Voyage.
They built the Magic Box as a high-tech, theatre-like set, with custom-designed 360-degree projections, motion-activated LEDs and hologram technology that works in with 3D, textured walls and stages and a spatially mapped audio system.
“We are proud to build for Sydney one of the most technically advanced environments in the country,” says Hughes.
Although this is a brand new venture for Luna Park Sydney, everything about this new experience is aligned with the Art Deco amusement park’s 1935 ethos of providing visitors with wonder, escapism and joy – the result is high-tech good old-fashioned entertainment.
Tickets for the Dream Circus experience are on sale over here. The 45-minute to hour-long experience is priced at $35 for children (up to age 13) and $45 for adults. The show runs nine times a day throughout the day, starting from 9am and running into the evening. Be one of the first in the world to see the experience, from December 22, 2023.
