It’s finally made its way to Australia. Described as “The world’s most ‘Instagrammable’ pop-up exhibit”, HAPPY PLACE exists for the sole mission of finding your happiness - and I can confirm it does that.
A few of us Blitzers visited the exhibit at its grand opening. It was fun, vibrant and you’ll definitely get some cool shots for Instagram. You can’t not smile at some point!
Located on the rooftop of Broadway Shopping Centre, visitors can feel a sense of happiness before entering the exhibit — there’s photos taken at HAPPY PLACE plastered across the shopping centre, in the lift to HAPPY PLACE, ON the lift, and a giant wall painted yellow, reading ‘Sydney is happy’ prior to entry.
HAPPY PLACE is an immersive experience of larger-than-life installations and multi-sensory themed rooms. It features playful spaces varying from the cookie-scented Cookie Room, Upside Down Room (where a bedroom scene is up on the ceiling!), all-yellow Rubber Duck Bathroom, a pool-sized Ball Pit (a favourite!), and Super Bloom room peppered with 40,000 handmade gold flowers.
There’s over 10 photo-opportunity scenes; some large rooms, some self-made ‘rooms’ and some installations within one large room.
Each scene has its own vibe so there’s a backdrop for everyone!
The playful nature of the exhibit keeps it buzzing, lively, and even though there may be queues to take some photos, particularly for the Upside Room, there’s little trace of impatience.
Whole rooms are decorated so you can take photos against a wall if you’d like… the cookie room’s main element is a giant cookie but it has a neon sign saying ‘C is for Cookie’ as well as hundreds of choc-chip cookies printed on its ceiling and walls.
The ‘Red Lips’ room has red lipstick kisses also printed all over so you don’t necessarily need to sit on the heart-shaped couch! Less playful and more saucy, the room is best for couples or bachelorette-party type friends.
It’s hard to pinpoint which rooms are the most popular but you’ll likely see a yellow bathtub, confetti snaps and jumping-in-a-huge-ball-pit boomerangs.
Tip - make sure you think of your pose for the Upside Down room prior, it’s unfortunately easy to get wrong… #learnfrommymistake. Look online for inspo.
And feel free to ask HAPPY PLACE staff to take photos for you - if they don’t ask you first that is. They’re trained to take the best pics so if you’re not great at photography, don’t stress too much.
A minor downside was that I found the lighting in the Super Bloom room to be a bit harsh so the photos weren’t great.
All in all, whichever space you navigate and whether you take photos or not, you’ll feel the happy vibes. It’s a whimsical experience for people of all ages and sizes, so take the opportunity to ‘Capture Your Happy’ at the iconic exhibition before it ends May 3! HAPPY PLACE uses a time slot system to avoid overcrowding so make sure to book in!
Tickets are $35 and cheaper for groups of 4 or more. Tag #wearehappy place and @wearehappyplace, @livenationoznz or @broadwaysydney for a chance to feature! HAPPY snapping (and smiling)!
Check out Johnson's photos from HAPPY PLACE here!
