The award-winning French entertainment park Puy du Fou is expanding again, this time to China.
Puy du Fou announced today that it will launch a new show, SAGA, at the Everbright Convention & Exhibition Centre in Shanghai next year.
"Inspired by Chinese history and legends, this ultra-immersive creation by the Puy du Fou artistic team will take its visitors back to Shanghai in the 1930’s," the company said in its press release. "Uniquely, visitors seal their own dramatic destiny as they progress through the experience and select their own adventures. Spectacular backdrops represent different locations and periods, allowing the story to evolve and offering visitors a total of over 26 possible adventures."
The project reflects the first installation of a new artistic concept for Puy du Fou - a two-hour production designed to be set up in city centers, rather than the multi-day park experience that Puy du Fou developed in Les Epesses, France and then for its recent Puy du Fou España in Toledo, Spain.
Puy du Fou has signed a development deal representing an estimated US$93 million investment with two partners, CYTS (the tourism subsidiary of the Everbright Group) and Shanghai Xuhui Urban Renewal Investment Development Group, to create the SAGA Shanghai production.
"We are proud that our new SAGA concept is coming to Shanghai, China as a world first, thanks to our Chinese partners," Puy du Fou President Nicolas de Villiers said. "This is our first creation in this country, which calls for other projects on which we are actively working with our French and Chinese teams. This new ultra-immersive concept in the heart of the city illustrates our ambition: to innovate and offer new thrills to the world. Our plans are for SAGA to go global and discussions are already under way with several big cities worldwide."
Puy du Fou's Cinéscénie was rated one of the top 10 theme park shows in the world by Theme Park Insider readers last year. Puy du Fou has won multiple Thea Awards from the Themed Entertainment Association, including the Thea Classic in 2012.
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Cinéscénie, still #1 with me :-)