WINTER | FEATURE
Emerging exhibitionists
With an increasing number of traditional concert promoters moving into the entertainmentdriven exhibitions market , Access explores the flourishing world of immersive shows and why it is attracting so many live music moguls
Words : Joe Gallop
The rise in popularity of family-focused immersive exhibitions has seen numerous traditional concert promoters diversify their offerings and expand into the burgeoning sector .
In the past 12 months , pan-European live music promoter FKP Scorpio has found success with both the Jurassic World and Disney exhibitions at ExCeL London ; Kilimanjaro Group made its first major move into exhibitions by taking a long-term lease on dedicated venue space Arches at London Bridge ; and the team behind Boomtown festival is now a year and a half into its ambitious Wake The Tiger ‘ amazement park ’ project in Bristol .
Meanwhile , Live Nation ’ s partnership with BBC Studios and Moon Eye Productions on the BBC Earth Experience at London ’ s purpose-built Daikin Centre , has seen the event ’ s run extended to August next year , with an exhibition also opening in Melbourne , Australia .
Another key development is the recently announced new 45,000sqft immersive entertainment venue
Wonderverse , which will open in Chicago as an expansion of Sony Picture ’ s growing focus on creating location-based experiences . Netflix has also announced plans to step into the world of immersive events in the US , with Netflix Houses set to open in 2025 as a mix of retail , dining and live experiences .
Monster business Following the record-breaking success of Jurassic World : The Exhibition , which sold almost 315,000 tickets in 137 days at ExCeL London before wrapping up in February , FKP Scorpio and Luna Cinema joined forces again to bring Disney : 100 The Exhibition to the Royal Docks venue in October .
The 20,000sqft event – a 100-year celebration of Walt Disney – is the largest exhibition The Walt Disney Archives
“ There ’ s a lot of fantastic IP that lends itself to curation , development and building an experience .”
has created , and the at ExCeL London run follows previous residencies at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and Munich ’ s Small Olympic Hall . The planning process for the event involved four years of assembling artefacts , many of which are on display for the first time .
FKP Scorpio Entertainment UK director and COO James Cassidy says
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