Denmark’s historic amusement park Tivoli Gardens is to open a record number of new attractions this year.
Perhaps the most notable of the new attractions is the addition of VR (virtual reality) capability to the existing Demon roller coaster. This will make it Scandinavia’s first VR roller coaster.
Refreshing and Developing Tivoli Gardens
Tivoli’s CEO is Lars Liebst. He says, ”It’s important to us that we always refresh ourselves and develop Tivoli. This season, we have built the Orangery with a music stage, and added a digital dimension to the Demon, which is now a dramatic virtual-reality experience. From
May, permanent Wednesday fireworks will be part of our large and wide-ranging cultural programme. Together with ambitious new culinary concepts reinforced by the Tivoli Food Hall opening in November, this will help realise our vision of being a leading international experience brand.”
Tivoli Gardens has a rich history. The world’s second most visited seasonal theme park, it first opened in 1843 and today attracts the region of 5 million visitors a year. The most popular park in Scandinavia, it is also the fourth most-visited in Europe, after only Germany’s Europa-Park, Disneyland Paris and Efteling in The Netherlands.
It boasts one of the world’s oldest wooden roller coasters still in operation. This is Rutschebanen, built in 1914 and affectionally known as Bjergbanen (the Mountain Coaster).
Tivoli Gardens Highlights
Season number 175 at Tivoli (172 operating days) will see a new series of live concerts, Little Friday. These will be staged in the Orangery, a new 375 m2 pavillion with a stage, glasshouse and studio. Wednesday fireworks will be returning to Tivoli from May. This will double the number of fireworks during the summer.
Highlights of the summer include:
Tivoli’s New Easter theme. Running until April 17.
New landscaping features have been added around the Chinese Pagoda, the Orangery and Gemyse.
Roller coaster, The Demon will become Scandinavia’s first coaster where visitors can explore a virtual reality (VR) experience. Travelling at 77 km an hour, guests riding the coaster will feel the effects of 4Gs as they go through 3 loops and experience a physical fall of 20 metres. However, guests have the option to pay an additional charge to add VR to the experience. As a result, this will an extra layer of immersion to the experience. Riders will encounter fireworks, fire-breathing dragons and demons from Chinese folklore.
Fireworks have always been part of the park’s DNA. This year Tivoli is doubling the number of fireworks.
Food and Light in the Gardens
Olafur Eliasson, the internationally acclaimed Danish-Icelandic artist has worked with the park to create the Little Sun Light Swarm. This consists of 33 large lamps suspended in the treetops around the Tivoli Lake. These change colours depending on the direction of the light. Each lamp is also unique, owing to the lamps’ glass panels and suspension.
An enhanced food and beverage offering will be another highlight this year. Michelin-acclaimed Henrik Yde (right) will open a brand new restaurant in the Chinese Pagoda. Asian culinary art is therefore in the spotlight but this time it has a new concept compared with the chef’s other restaurants.
There is also Gemyse, which nestles beside the Tivoli Lake with organic and green meals in the limelight. Cakenhagenwill be opening too. Here, sandwiches, cakes and champagne will be served. Finally, there is Kaktus, Tivoli’s new family-friendly taco venue.
Music and Stars
Each day, the Tivoli’s Ballet Company, Tivoli Ballet Theatre, will be performing at the Pantomime Theatre.
A highlight of the Summer Classic concerts will be the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. Feature opera stars include Lawrence Brownlee and Sarah Coburn together with outstanding pianists such as Yuja Wang, Igor Levit and Pierre-Laurent Aimard. Tivoli’s own orchestra, the Tivoli Copenhagen Phil, will also be perform a number of symphonic concerts.
Tivoli’s Friday Rock will feature renowned international stars such as Lil Wayne, 5 Seconds Of Summer, Brian Wilson and Erykah Badu.
Main image: demon VR Roller Coaster Lasse Salling Tivoli
