Incredible immersive experiences to do in NYC right now

Painter Marc Chagall's lusciously vibrant works of art come to life in a new immersive experience at Hall des Lumières. Titled "Chagall, Paris-New York," the exhibition explores the prolific painter who defied labels. 

His works are projected in a larger-than-life scale, taking over walls, ceilings and even the floor of the ornate bank-turned-exhibition hall located in Lower Manhattan. “Chagall, Paris-New York” is now on view through 2024 with adult tickets starting at $30. 

In addition to his painting, Chagall also embraced theater, costumes, sculpture, ceramics, stained glass, mosaics and collage as part of his multidisciplinary palette. The immersive exhibition highlights all of these art forms, with the stained glass work as an especially dazzling display. His fantastic mythical creatures, circus characters and fable stories dance across the resplendent walls.

To accompany "Chagall, Paris-New York," Hall des Lumières is also presenting "Kandinsky, The Odyssey of Abstraction" as well as "Infinite Horizons," an artistic journey through landscape co-created by HKI-Hellohikimori." 

Following successful runs in Madrid, Milan, Paris and Rome, the Balloon Museum has officially taken over Pier 36 in The Seaport this fall.

Set in and outside of the 80,000-square-foot space, the new cultural destination has unveiled new exhibit titled “Let’s Fly,” scheduled to run through January 14, 2024. 

Visitors are encouraged to interact with the installation, touching and feeling the various pieces exhibited. In terms of actual pieces, you can expect a 4,000-square-foot ball pit, inflatable lava lamps and the sorts of infinity rooms that you'll itch to post about on Instagram.

Walk through a tunnel of lights to enter Hero, the newest immersive experience in NYC. Beneath Rockefeller Center in what used to be a post office, this quiet place will transport you far away from midtown Manhattan.

Also on deck: a sonic sculpture by Aaron Taylor Kuftner called "Gamelatron Bidadari" that will force you to stare it at for long periods of time while trying to figure out how, exactly, a drum can play itself.

The premiere exhibition, called "The Liminal" is scheduled to remain on view through December 31. It offers an immersive show of sounds and lights comprised of a number of different installations, each one visually striking yet entirely soothing in its own way.

Muggles, take note: You won’t need to travel through Platform 9¾ to get to Hogwarts. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is right here in New York City for a limited time.

The touring show, “Harry Potter: The Exhibition,” is now open in Herald Square, and it’s going transport you. Through the use of dramatic lighting, set design, interactive technology and even scent, the exhibit will make you feel like you are actually there—in Hagrid’s hut, in potions class, dining in the Great Hall, learning how to fight the dark arts, fighting the Battle of Hogwarts and more.

Tickets are on sale now through January 7, 2024 and start at $29 for adults. 

Live like Monica, Chandler, Ross, Rachel, Joey and Phoebe at The FRIENDS Experience: The One in New York City. It's basically an immersive museum celebrating the '90s sitcom. You'll get to walk through rooms that look exactly like the ones on the TV show.

Photo opportunities abound. There’s a chance to pose with the “Pivot” couch, a backdrop that looks like the Vegas chapel, and a photo opp with Phoebe’s grandma’s taxi. You can even pose on top of Pat the Dog, snap a photo with the giant poking device and take a selfie in Monica’s apartment. Using high-quality cameras, staff take photos at each spot, which you can purchase at the end. But staff will also take free photos with your cell phone if you ask. 

It's not just a selfie museum, though. There's a fascinating display featuring the show's costume designer Debra McGuire where you'll learn about her sartorial choices for each character. Another exhibit spotlights artist Burton Morris, whose Pop art pieces decorate Central Perk. Other display cases feature set designs, signed scripts, props and costumes.  

Once again, the Camp store at 110 Fifth Avenue by 17th Street has transformed into a kids' paradise. This immersive experience celebrates Trolls Band Together, now in theaters.

The one-hour-long immersive experience is pretty awesome. It kicks off right by the store’s signature “magic door,” a speakeasy-style secret entrance that is certain to surprise and delight the little ones.

Upon entering, you'll be greeted by the Trolls' human friends who will teach you a few moves that you will be able to perform (on a small stage!) towards the end of your adventure.

Snag tickets to the immersive experience right here. 

Many museums start with some kind of orientation, like a map or remarks from a docent. But not The House of Cannabis (a.k.a. THC NYC), the new weed museum in Soho. Instead, this museum starts, quite fittingly, with a trippy “Disorientation Room.”

While this museum boasts plenty of mind-bending multi-sensory bells and whistles, it also showcases art, highlights science and confronts the social justice issues baked into cannabis prosecution. The museum, the first of its kind at this scale, packs every inch of its four-story, 25,000-square-foot space at 427 Broadway with fascinating facts and delightful immersive experiences fit to entertain both tokers and non-smokers alike. Tickets ($45/adult) are on sale now.

The energy in INTER_ feels more like a meditation retreat than a typical gallery—and that’s by design. 

The experiential, multi-sensory museum in Soho invites visitors into a heightened state of contemplative awareness through a sound bath, light installations and aspects of meditation all combined with interactive digital art. 

Here's a sneak peek inside the museum — and if you want to check it out yourself, Time Out readers get a discount on tickets with code TIMEOUT15.

AirOtic Soiree is bringing the heat to Hell's Kitchen with a 21+ cabaret-style performance showcasing incredible aerial acrobatics in a titillating, sensual style. The show takes audiences through an intense story of love, passion, sexuality and eroticism through an immersive circus and cabaret experience including extravagant costumes, seductive choreography and circus artistry. 

During the show, dine on dinner and decadent dessert towers curated by celebrity chef Saul Montiel. Before and after the performance, cocktails will be available for purchase.

See it at HK Hall, a historic venue with striking decor in the heart of Hell’s Kitchen, with performances through 2023. 

A multitude of searing sights crowd the spectator's gaze at the bedazzling and uncanny theater installation Sleep No More at The McKittrick Hotel. Your sense of space and depth—already compromised by the half mask that audience members must don—is further blurred as you wend through more than 90 discrete spaces, ranging from a cloistral chapel to a vast ballroom floor. 

An experiential, Choose Your Own Adventure project such as this depends on the pluck and instincts of the spectator. You can follow the mute dancers from one floor to the next, or wander aimlessly through empty spaces.

Get ready for heart-pounding experience in the sky unlike any other experience atop a skyscraper. Summit One Vanderbilt sits atop the new 67-floor One Vanderbilt super-tall—a 1,401-foot-high—skyscraper.

As the city's fourth-tallest building after One World Trade Center, Central Park Tower and 111 West 57th Street, it sits just west of Grand Central Terminal, where you first enter the experience underground. After a trip through a mirrored hallway with its own immersive elements, visitors take an elevator up to the 91st floor, where they're 1,000 feet over the streets and sidewalks of NYC.

Kenzo Digital has created a totally mirrored infinity room called "Air" that reflects the sky and city views over and over, making you feel like you're walking in the sky or on another plane of existence. Looking above you and below you in this two-story space, you see your reflection repeating forever.

One of the coolest parts of the experience is that it changes with the weather and time of day. When the weather is nice, it'll look like you're walking among the clouds. When it's stormy, you'll see the rain fly sideways and around the building. 

Part visual splendor, part olfactory wonder and part ooey-gooey sensory fun, Sloomoo Institute’s slime museum offers a captivating playground for all ages.

While Sloomoo is a highly Instagrammable experience, the founders hope you’ll spend some time away from your phone and immersed in the moment during your 90-minute visit to truly have the slime of your life. You can squish vats of slime, make your own slime to take home and even stand under a slime waterfall—that's truly immersive.