Catch the escalator up to the first floor of Westfield London in Shepherd’s Bush, and you’ll find the entrance to Wake The Tiger’s latest venture slotted in alongside an M&S (Marks & Spencer) store.
This juxtaposition of an edgy new attraction and a chain store that has been a darling of the British high street for over a century couldn’t be more emblematic of the ‘retailtainment’ recipe that operators like Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) are increasingly turning to in order to make their centres sing in the 21st Century.
Absurd City joins more traditional retail centre offerings at Westfield London
Image credit Owen Ralph
“Retail is evolving alongside consumer expectations,” says Katie Wyle, URW’s managing director for customer and retail operations in Northern Europe.
“People still love to shop, but they want more from a day out. Across our two London centres, almost 650,000 sq ft [60,385 sq m] is now dedicated to leisure and entertainment, giving people more reasons to visit and stay longer”.
At 80,000 square feet [7,340 square metres], Absurd City is now the largest single leisure tenant at Westfield London. Above the doors, the words “under new management” are slapped over a generic “Department Store” sign. This is not the only satirical commentary on consumerism from Absurd City’s creators.
Notably, both a former M&S and Debenhams store in Wake The Tiger’s native Bristol, a city noted for its creative/alternative spirit, have been repurposed in recent years, the latter as a skate park.
Step inside a parallel world
Rather than a department store, Absurd City replaces another attraction at Westfield London. The UK’s first and only KidZania role-playing city opened above M&S in 2015, seven years after the centre’s launch. It then ceased trading in January 2024.
Like Wake The Tiger’s original Dream Factory, Absurd City targets a much broader demographic than either KidZania or Boomtown, the immersive music festival from which it was born.
The immersive art experience offers a parallel world filled with surreal installations and mind-bending visuals. Secret passageways, hidden rooms, and weird and wonderful photo opps abound.
Absurd City is set in the wider world of Meridia, first featured at Wake The Tiger in Bristol. In Absurd City, it has already suffered climate collapse. Instead of dealing with disaster when they had the chance, the city’s leaders have sealed the metropolis under a gigantic dome. What could possibly go wrong?
Daytrippers, as guests are referred to in the attraction, are about to find out after booking a package holiday.
The travel agent’s promise is hardly reassuring: “90% of satisfied customers say their luggage, limbs, and family members all make it through the portal in one piece. Safe-ish and sound: thatʼs the Get Gone guarantee!”
Keeping everyone safe under the dome is the cute robot dog REX. And “Everything is fine,” he insists. Yet The Genny, an ancient generator at the heart of Absurd City, is in trouble, and visitors will experience power ‘outages’ at regular intervals as the entire attraction is plunged momentarily into darkness.
Blurring boundaries at Absurd City
“From the moment Wake The Tiger shared their vision with us, we knew this was going to be something special,” says Wyle. “
Absurd City is exactly the kind of bold, culture-defining experience we want people to discover at Westfield London. An immersive world that blurs the boundaries between art, storytelling and live experience on an extraordinary scale”.
The attraction opened on 15 October after an intensive nine-month build.
Graham MacVoy, CEO and co-founder of Wake The Tiger
Graham MacVoy, Wake The Tiger’s CEO and co-founder, shows us around the city’s five districts and more than 100 spaces. “We opened on time, but it was still a race to get it finished. I've hardly seen my family for three months. I’m really proud of it, though. It’s incredible”.
Other key people on the project included creative directors Anya Tye and Summer Dean, plus Luke Mitchell, co-founder of both Boomtown and Wake The Tiger.
But it took a team of over 500 props makers, carpenters, AV specialists, robotic experts, graphic designers, voiceover artists, writers and other creatives to realise Absurd City.
Alongside trusted talent from Bristol and across the UK, Wake The Tiger engaged many London artists for the first time. A full list is featured at the entrance to the attraction.
- Bloom Street is a hyperactive high street selling everything you never knew you wanted. Fake products line the shelves of the Luxury Corner Shop, Make-U-Better Pharmaceuticals and Rex News, but nothing is actually for sale.
- Reclamia is Absurd City’s waste-processing district, where junk is recycled into spectacular contraptions.
- Imaginopolis is a sanctuary for artists, visionaries and free thinkers. As well as kitsch around every corner, visitors can watch some whimsical filmed puppet shows inside a cinema originally featured at KidZania.
- Neon Nexus is a place where digital identities are rewritten. Located on a mezzanine level, biohackers are on a mission to do good by preserving precious samples of Meridia’s lost nature.
- Elite HQ is a commodified luxury retreat for the city’s most wealthy citizens. Part corporate headquarters, part gated community; entry requires at least Emerald Platinum Elite status.
Upcycled props and roaming characters
Props for Absurd City have been sourced from everywhere, from car boot sales to film sets. Many old props from KidZania have been repurposed, including a plane fuselage at the beginning of the attraction.
Others may be harder to spot, but MacVoy adds: “We threw out a fraction of what anyone else would have if they took on this property.”
Absurd City welcomes visitors for a daytrip with a difference
Image credit Owen Ralph
Another incentive to upcycling was the fact that everything had to be brought in or out of the mall using just two service elevators.
Throughout the different spaces, roaming characters entertain guests and provide clues and a little more depth to the storyline. There are also various interactives.
Yet there is no guide to accompany visitors throughout the whole experience. Tickets are booked online as timed entry slots. Walk-ups are also available subject to capacity. Once inside, guests are free to roam as they wish.
The attraction ends in the same way for everyone, however. When they are ready, daytrippers can step into The Genny for a finale in which they see if the generator can be awoken. Sound and light effects create an intense climax inside this domed room within the domed city.
A self-guided experience in a competitive market
The non-linear nature of both Wake The Tiger’s Amazement Parks may limit throughput. And MacVoy is OK with that.
“It creates freedom, and for me that's really important. A timed experience loses so much authenticity. Some of our visitors in Bristol stay for three, four hours, and really get into the storyline. But it also means if you've got a family and the kids are knackered, they can leave, and you don’t feel trapped.
"Freedom's good.”
Whereas Wake The Tiger in Bristol has hosted over half a million people in its first four years, the attendance targets for London are “Scary,” according to MacVoy. “But they also feel very achievable given the size of the marketplace here.”
Interactive fun on the Stock Exchange at Absurd City
Image credit Irene Haro
While there may be millions more consumers in the capital (versus roughly half a million in Bristol), “London is a lot more competitive” when it comes to the experience economy,” notes McCoy.
At Westfield London alone, around 337,900 sq ft (31,390 sq m) of space is now dedicated to leisure – a 39% increase in the past four years. Other attractions include Puttshack, Podgolf, City Bouldering, Social Pottery, All Star Lanes bowling, Activate games rooms, four VR offerings and a cinema.
There’s also an Upside Down House outside and, until November 23, a Hunger Games pop-up experience. The sister Westfield Stratford City in East London offers three competitive socialising outlets, plus a cinema and casino.
Westfield rolls out experiential concepts across Europe
Whilst London is considered a global hub when it comes to this kind of entertainment, it’s catching on in many other markets.
“At our newest UK destination, Westfield St James Quarter in Edinburgh, shopping sits alongside dining, a boutique cinema and a luxury hotel,” says Wyle. “We’re seeing the same shift across Europe, with new experiential concepts opening across Westfield destinations including France, Sweden and the Netherlands.”
Guests are free to roam and explore Absurd City
Image credit Andre Pattenden
Wake The Tiger has a 15-year lease for Absurd City at Westfield London with Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. It therefore needs more staying power than some of the ‘Instagrammable’ pop-up attractions found elsewhere in London and other international cities.
“Wake The Tiger is not a household name yet in London,” says McCoy. “It will be a marathon, not a sprint.”
Wyle adds that Absurd City “has been a joy to market. There’s nothing else like it in London. It’s a great fit with our ambition to be a destination built around experience, discovery and time spent together. Our support doesn’t stop at launch.
"Absurd City will continue to be a key part of how we talk about Westfield London, both in centre and across our channels."
Wake The Tiger’s storyline and ethical ethos
MacVoy says it was “a massive compliment” to be approached by URW.
“We were just a young business on an industrial estate in Bristol. When they offered us this place, Luke and I were like, ‘We're not going in a shopping centre. But the first time we saw the space, our jaws just hit the floor. It felt like the right move."
The Wake The Tiger name was inspired by the book Waking The Tiger by Peter Levine, which explores themes of trauma, transformation and awakening a powerful force within ourselves to drive change. Yet the Meridia storyline is an original IP.
The Genny provides the climax to Absurd City
Image credit Andre Pattenden
This is something Wake The Tiger hopes to build upon by publishing a book. Initially, this will be sold at its Amazement Parks, but there might also be scope for animated content, a computer game or other spin-offs.
At Absurd City, guests can already play a supermarket-themed video game called Trollied. Books are also available in the gift shop for deeper reading on some of the themes addressed throughout the attraction.
MacVoy is thrilled with the shop’s 90% ethical rating, based on stock from Fairtrade, B Corp and small quantity producers, featuring recycled, upcycled and sustainable materials.
Furthermore, no AI was used to generate designs for any products – or anywhere else in Absurd City.
As in Bristol, the venue’s Wunderground bar and kitchen (named after a grassroots movement in the storyline) features a plant-based menu.
Wake The Tiger’s expansion
After two years in Bristol, Wake The Tiger expanded by adding a second level, OUTERverse.
“We learned a lot from Bristol,” says MacVoy. “It’s not as polished as London, but it’s got a special place in my heart, and I find it very calming.”
He adds that there is the equivalent of two further districts of unused space at Absurd City. “One of those areas could become an event or conference space. At the moment we're just trying to tweak what we’ve built, but we’re really happy with it as a whole. The plan is to make this succeed, then see what’s next."
There are hidden spaces everywhere at Absurd City
Image credit Owen Ralph
A third outlet isn’t out of the question, probably on home turf.
“Going abroad, I think, would be very expensive. You'd need a partner, really. But I think in the UK we could build another. Bristol is a provincial city. I think next time we’d be looking at a secondary city like Birmingham or Manchester, maybe Glasgow or Edinburgh.
"But if we do another, it’s going to look completely different."
While Bristol was built with a small amount of crowdfunding alongside other investment, Wake The Tiger has not disclosed the budget or the investors behind the London project.
But MacVoy insists it wasn’t cheap, regardless of upcycling.
“The cap ex Merlin spends on a Gateway [short stay attraction] might be four or five times a Bubble Planet [touring exhibition]. But you can multiply that again a few more times for us. What we build is expensive, and eventually we need to pay back the shareholders."
Boomtown Vs Wake The Tiger
After downsizing for a few years after the COVID pandemic, Boomtown is booming once again. MacVoy was too busy finishing Absurd City to attend this August, but he still admires the Winchester music festival, where he once served as site manager.
“It sold out this year earlier than ever before, with a bigger capacity than before,” he tells us.
Much of its success is arguably down to the storyline, theming and theatre as much as the music.
“People try and copy it, but they can't keep up. It doesn't make as much money as some festivals, but it’s an incredible product. You’ve got 5 or 6,000 actors, and the way they evolve the storyline each year – for only one weekend – is incredible.”
London icons reimagined at Absurd City
Image credit Owen Ralph
Whereas Boomtown relies on volunteers as well as festival professionals and freelancers to keep it ticking, Wake The Tiger – a separate company – has a completely different business model.
“We’ve never asked people to work for free,” says McCoy. “And the price differential is huge. This is a permanent installation, and we need to drive footfall. People are having a really tough time at the moment, and we want to make it as accessible as we can.
"I think people will find they get value for money when they visit.”
Online tickets for Absurd City start at £22.95, commensurate with or cheaper than what people might pay for a shorter immersive experience elsewhere in London. And a fraction of the price of a West End theatre show. The first public Google reviews are largely very positive.
