Volcano Express provides an immersive journey through Iceland’s volcanic landscapes and the powerful processes that shape them, driven by advanced cinematic and sensory technology.
Located within the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavík, this 15-minute attraction allows visitors to soar above Iceland’s volcanic landscapes and plunge deep into the Earth. The experience combines real eruption footage with visual effects, creating an authentic yet thrilling spectacle. During the ride, guests will feel the heat, wind, movements, and tremors, including specific temperature fluctuations and seismic activity.
Volcano Express aims to inform visitors about Iceland’s one-of-a-kind volcanic landscape in a captivating and entertaining way, catering to both tourists and locals. Additionally, the entire show operates on sustainable geothermal energy, reflecting Iceland’s commitment to environmental values.
Kristján Ra. Kristjánsson, producer, Niklas Philipson, technical designer, and Guðjón Jónsson, director, speak to blooloop about the process of bringing Volcano Express to life.
Telling Iceland’s volcanic story
The first spark of the idea that became Volcano Express began in 2019, when Kristjánsson was having a conversation with a cousin, who is one of the leading volcano specialists in Iceland.
“That idea evolved a little bit in 2020. And then in 2021, we had the first eruption that he had warned me about in 2019. This was expected to happen sometime in the next 100 years,” says Kristjánsson. “That’s when we started to talk to the people that we needed to make this happen.”
Kristjánsson and Jónsson, with a shared background in storytelling, wanted to tell the story of Iceland as a volcanic island. “If it weren’t a volcano, we would probably not be living here. Because it gives us both cheap electricity, and we can heat our houses. So, a little insight into what Icelanders deal with, how we live alongside these eruptions, and what positives they also bring us.”
Essentially, they set out to make something educational, but also fun. “A huge part of it was that we were not just creating a movie. We wanted people to really feel the heat, to feel the wind, to feel the movements, the earthquake.”
While Volcano Express undoubtedly appeals to tourists, it also has a special connection with the local audience. As Kristjánsson puts it, “Locals may think they know Iceland, but they’re pleasantly surprised by the experience and the story we tell.
“We say that if this is the first thing you see when you come to Iceland, you will have a deeper experience of what Iceland is. That was the main goal, but it also benefits the locals too.”
Education meets entertainment
Speaking about how the team decided on the narrative arc of the experience and the story they wanted to tell, Jónsson says that, while they ultimately wanted the ride to be fun, they also wanted it to be very informative:
“So, we were researching and looking into the big picture of the volcanic areas around us. We realised that we could create this circular journey. By incorporating the key points we found during our research, we could create an engaging and visually informative one.
“We created a mock-up, like a storyboard, and played it through. We liked it so much that we went ahead with it. There weren’t many do-overs from the start. We found that line early on. Of course, it developed, but the main line of the circle around the Reykjanes volcanic area appeared to us early.”
Visual thrills
Volcano Express balances real eruption footage with visual effects to create an experience that’s both thrilling and authentic. Bringing the volcanic landscapes to life required a careful blend of real footage and computer-generated imagery. Jónsson explains how the team approached these VFX shots to ensure authenticity.
The team captured most of the eruption footage live, using real shots wherever possible, says Jónsson. Then, there are two CGI shots in the show that take the viewer far up into space and deep into the ground. “What we did to make those shots fit well in our show is that we shot a connecting shot that it needs to come from, and then a receiving shot that takes the shot back.
“That becomes very integrated into the show and the footage.”
For the VFX shots that required the team to travel through time and move at high speeds, sometimes faster than they could physically move a camera, they captured all the elements:
“We shot a demo and captured all the elements, giving the VFX artists the material they needed. The trick to good VFX is basing it on real materials. Most of the shots in the show are just us flying very close to volcanoes and around the area surrounding the city.”
Kristjánsson adds: “When we move fast, the machine adds to that feeling with both emotions and the wind, 15 metres a second in your face. That also gives a much more realistic feeling that you’re moving fast; it feels like the speed of light.
“That also helps the movement, and it just connects it,” agrees Jónsson. “We’re going between scenes and shots, and that sense of moving and the climate changing really connects the whole experience.”
Feel the power of the volcano
Creating the immersive visual experience was only part of the challenge. The team also needed to replicate the physical sensations of volcanic activity. When asked about the technical hurdles behind these, Philipson reflected on the challenges of creating something that runs countless times each day.
“I’m familiar with working with motion throughout my entire career. But this is so much more frequent than ever before,” he said. “I suggested in the beginning, when we were working on this, maybe we should not consider doing it ourselves, but Kristjan was very determined to have control of the entire process!”
The team experimented with different solutions early on. “We tried various things from the beginning; we had to understand what kind of feeling we wanted from this machine and what kind of acceleration we were looking at.”
Kristjánsson adds that the development process spanned years of testing and refinement:
“We spent some years deciding what way to go and testing things out. We decided, during this period, before Niklas and his team designed the machine, that we would have a machine that could move at 1g acceleration in every direction [the same force as gravity pulling on your body], several times in a split second, back and forth to create the earthquake.”
That system became the backbone of one of the most dramatic sensations in the show.
“We were also able to use that in a free fall, where you free-fall for 30 centimetres. And you need that acceleration for a person to feel that you’re free-falling. You can’t just move it fast outwards. When you have a full audience in, it’s eight tonnes. You can imagine the power that needs to be delivered to make that happen.”
Volcano Express at Harpa
Finding the right home for Volcano Express was another crucial step. The team sought a location that would welcome both tourists and locals while accommodating the technical requirements of the show. Volcano Express sits within Reykjavik’s award-winning Harpa concert hall, a modern venue that also hosts the national opera & symphony.
Kristjánsson says: “We wanted to be in Reykjavik; we wanted to be local. Harpa is a fantastic concert hall; tourists come there, and Icelanders love to be there. However, it may have been lacking in activities and things for people to do. So, we asked for a meeting and pitched the idea.
“It was a win-win situation with the story that we were telling.”
It took the team 18 months of discussions to find a location within the concert hall that could accommodate the experience as a permanent installation. Eventually, they found a 155-square-metre spot with a height of six and a half metres, and immediately faced the challenge of creating the experience to fit:
“Volcano Express is built exactly for this space. We had to do extreme sound isolation – we have basically a floating studio, which is 89 square metres on the inside. There were quite a few challenges to make it happen there, but we are in a fantastic house that we are proud of.”
An added benefit, says Jónsson, is that all the music for the experience was recorded in one of Harpa’s concert halls: “A 30-person choir and band recorded over two days, with music by Gabríel Ólafs, a young Icelandic composer — the sound in the room is fantastic.”
Something for everyone
Another challenge was to make the ride appealing to guests of different ages.
Kristjánsson says the heart of the experience is the story: “It’s not a roller coaster ride, even if there are parts of it that could feel like that. We could have made a fantastic roller coaster ride, but that was not what we aimed for. We aimed for an exciting and fun experience, with a story to tell. So, by doing that, I think we have a broad appeal.
“Even if you feel the earthquake, it’s not a half-minute earthquake, and you just want to run out of the room. It’s five seconds two times, and the free fall is very smooth, even if everyone screams a little bit!”
Jónsson adds: “During the process, I was always thinking, ‘Will my mother like it, and will my son have fun here?’ And we balanced to make that work. They love it.”
The team also needed to make sure it was safe for all, says Philipson. “Safety-wise, as long as you stay on the platform, you’re in a secure position. And obviously, there are seat belts and things like that. However, there was one safety consideration that I considered crucial. Each cylinder and piston should be able to move independently without causing damage.
“If pistons were forced to work against each other, then we would have a dangerous situation. And that was a key point to the technical design.”
Sustainability at Volcano Express
Beyond the immersive story and technical feats, sustainability was a core consideration. The team ensured that the attraction would reflect Iceland’s commitment to clean energy. Volcano Express draws on sustainable geothermal energy, showcasing Iceland’s dedication to environmental principles.
“We are telling a story that Iceland, more or less, is run on sustainable energy,” says Kristjánsson. “You can thank the volcanoes for the heating of the houses and the electricity. We are using a lot of electricity to run this show 40 times a day, but it’s all run by sustainable energy.
“We actually initially had a tagline that was ‘Volcano Express powered by Iceland,’ because it’s the warm water and the water power that basically powers the ride. That was the most significant part: we have a heavy electricity need. You need a lot of electricity for this experience, but it’s all run on geothermal energy.
Jónsson adds: “We have a power plant 30 kilometres away on a dormant volcano, which is running the show.”
Taking Volcano Express to the world
Looking ahead, the team sees potential to take Volcano Express beyond Iceland’s borders, exploring how the concept could bring audiences closer to volcanic landscapes around the world.
“We are telling a story that we could have told 50 years ago, and we can still tell 50 years from now,” says Kristjánsson. “So, to change this exact experience, we do not have any specific plans for. However, to take this further, what we have created can be taken to a new place and developed into a version 2.0.
“We can say there is significant interest from the team and investors to explore what we can make of it. The question is just where, when, and what we will be saying? Is it in Italy about the volcanic activities there, is it in Japan, Hawaii, or is it something else?
“There is an interest in taking this to the next step and making a new experience.”
Iceland may be the starting point, but volcanoes are a shared story of humanity. Whether in the Mediterranean, the Pacific, or elsewhere, the team sees endless potential in bringing this immersive experience to new audiences, with each version shaped by the unique landscapes of its setting.
