This Multi-Sensory Playground Is Bringing Its Light-Filled Mazes and Inflatable Spaces to Brisbane

Sometimes, we all need to get a little lost. We need to leave our comfort zones — and the homes we've been spending so much time in during the pandemic — and go wandering through an otherworldly realm. We need to explore light-filled mazes, bound through inflatable spaces and check out an electronic hall of mirrors, too, and just completely forget about our day-to-day troubles while we're moseying around a multi-sensory installation.

If all of that sounds like your idea of heaven at the moment, it's about to become a reality in Brisbane this September. This year's Brisbane Festival has just announced a new addition to its lineup in the form of Imaginaria — an immersive playground for kidults and children alike that's set to take over the Festival Garden hub underneath the Goodwill Bridge, next to Queensland Maritime Museum at South Bank, from Friday, September 3–Tuesday, November 30.

And, if it sounds a little familiar, that's because you might've heard about Imaginaria's Melbourne season. From late in 2020, it set up shop in the Victorian capital for six months and welcomed in a lazy 100,000-plus people. So, expect its Brisbane stint to be busy (and cross your fingers that lockdown doesn't get extended and hamper the pop-up's plans, obviously).

The installation is made up of different structures each filled with lights, sounds and smells. First, you take your shoes off — and then you wander through a space filled with artificial intelligence projections, sensor-triggered LED waves and giant silk parachute canopies. Also included: cosmic gardens, an anti-gravity sunset, an electronic hall of mirrors and a digital
wishing well that whispers your greatest desires.

There's ten rooms in total, eight of which are brand new for Brisbane — and it's a choose-your-own-adventure kind of experience, so you can spend 15 minutes skipping through or take your time. Open to all ages, it'll have capacity limits and strict hygiene measures, with tickets starting at $23.95 a pop for adults.

Imaginaria will set up at the Brisbane Festival Garden hub underneath the Goodwill Bridge, next to Queensland Maritime Museum at South Bank, from Friday, September 3–Tuesday, November 30 — with Ticketmaster pre-sales running from 10am on Tuesday, August 10–11.59pm on Wednesday, August 11, and general public tickets open from 10am on Thursday, August 12.

Images: William Hamilton-Coates