Creativity with bite
On the back of a successful crowdfunding campaign , the team behind independent festival Boomtown Fair ( cap . 66,000 ) is set to launch an immersive ‘ amazement park ’ in the event operation ’ s Bristol HQ . Access investigates
Words : Christopher Barrett
Having achieved an £ 800,000 crowdfunding target on the back of more than £ 1.5 million of seed investment , the Boomtown festival team is set to open the doors on immersive art experience Wake The Tiger at the end of July . It ’ s yet another example of the Boomtown team ’ s seemingly endless creative zeal .
Produced by a team including Boomtown Fair site and operations manager Graham MacVoy and the festival ’ s co-founders and directors Lak Mitchell and Chris Rutherford , Wake The Tiger has been a huge focus for the Bristol-based events team for the past couple of years .
MacVoy says the interactive show is expected to become a major tourist attraction , and with Bristol seeing 16 million tourism visits in 2018 , the potential is clearly huge .
The ‘ amazement park ’ will involve a one-hour tour of 27 artistic environments . Designed to be an immersive alternative to a traditional art gallery , it is suitable for visitors of all ages . Around 1,000 people are expected to attend per day .
“ We have a three-story , 6,000sqm , warehouse in central Bristol
Wake the Tiger is creativity in action
that Boomtown founders Chris [ Rutherford ] and Lak [ Mitchell ] bought seven years ago with the idea of using as an all year-round events space ,” says MacVoy .
“ Lak and I had been looking into permanent attractions , themed layouts or concepts , at how you link music with art . It went through a lot of iterations over the years , and then the Covid lockdown hit . After we recovered from the initial shock of that , we started to put aside more time to focus on creating a standalone immersive experience . We never had that chance before because Boomtown is such a complicated show and takes up a lot of time .”
The initial Wake The Tiger offering will consist of a 2,000sqm attraction space consisting of indoor and covered outdoor areas .
Tickets go on sale on 1 July . Instead of a traditional ticket , purchasers will receive an invitation to visit a marketing suite called Meridia Luxury Homes . From there , visitors will be taken on an interactive journey from room to room , with the experience involving a maze of environments including hidden forests , temples , ice caves and secret passageways .
MacVoy says he has enjoyed watching the wide-eyed expressions on the faces of the people who have previewed the project : “ Most of them leave smiling and saying something along the lines of ‘ what the hell just happened ?’.
“ We have let creativity really lead the design and creation process . It ’ s not a sterile attraction run by businessmen ; it is a creative business run by creative
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