Westfield London to host “Europe’s largest immersive art experience”

A big art installation deserves a big venue and Westfield London is set to stage Europe’s biggest — ‘Wake The Tiger’ — for summer 2026.

And as retail-based experiences are increasing in size and importance, the Bristol-based team behind Boomtown Festival will bring its “genre-defining” Amazement Park to the capital, making Westfield London “the home to Europe’s largest immersive art experience”.

Wake the Tiger’s arrival will see the mall’s 80,000 sq ft anchor unit, formerly home to KidZania, “reimagined as a cultural and leisure destination”. 

With “shared values around sustainability and cultural engagement”, the collaboration “opens up new possibilities for mass-scale storytelling and provides a powerful platform to connect millions through art, and directly responds to consumer demand for more innovative, experiential spaces that integrate culture, creativity, and purpose”, mall operator Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield said.

It also “reinforces Westfield London’s position as a leading cultural and leisure destination, marking an ambitious next chapter both for the centre and for… Wake The Tiger”, it added.

The design and delivery of the space will be powered by hundreds of artists, makers and multidisciplinary creatives. Two decades in the making, “it marks the collective’s most ambitious project to date and will invite Londoners and tourists into a parallel world of imagination and otherworldly art”.

Jacinta Rowsell, managing director,  customer & retail operations, Northern Europe, at URW, added: “As we continue to evolve our centres, Wake The Tiger is a bold, strategic addition to our leisure line-up at Westfield London. It reflects our commitment to creating world-class, mixed-use destinations where leisure, entertainment and purpose come together to deliver culturally rich experiences beyond traditional retail.

“With 96% of Londoners shopping to escape the everyday, we’re proud to transform one of Westfield London’s anchor spaces with this genre-defining concept.”

Wake The Tiger will join Westfield London’s expanding line-up of leisure, entertainment and competitive socialising concepts, alongside TOCA Social’s largest venue to date, the 620-seat Capital Theatre opening in October, Moonshot’s first UK site, City Bouldering, Puttshack, DIVR Labs, Vue, All Star Lanes, Java Whiskers and Gymbox.