You walk through a set of bright yellow doors and it’s as if you’ve stepped into an alternate reality. After sold out shows in L.A. and Chicago, the travelling pop-up art installation called Happy Place has landed in Toronto.
This is the first leg of its international tour. Comprised of 13 individually themed rooms, Happy Place was created with the singular goal of making you feel happy.
“The goal of happy place is for the hour or so you’re here, I want you try and leave whatever is bugging you or stressing you at the door and just focus on interacting with your friends and family,” Jared Paul, founder of Happy Place, told Global News.
“The rubber ducky cubby, believe it or not, is almost world-wide famous. The Kardashians, Adele, and a lot of other famous celebrities have been in this bathtub.”
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The 20,000-square-foot Toronto edition of Happy Place is nestled at the Harbourfront Centre. The exhibit has proven to be a popular spot for social media photos.
“In our upside down room, you stand on a chandelier and you can do all kinds of stuff. You can take a foot off and raise your hands like you’re falling,” Paul said.
“Someone takes a photo for you. Once you get the photo, you go into photo editing, swivel the photo around, and then boom, you’re upside down. You post it on your social media or text it to a friend and they’ll ask you, ‘Where are you and how did you do that?'”
Boomerangs are a particularly popular method of capturing the moments here. There’s a 20-foot double rainbow with a massive “pot of happiness” museum goers get to jump into. Also, the exhibition features the world’s largest indoor confetti dome.
Even the food served at Happy Place can brighten you up — the grilled cheese is rainbow coloured.
Happy Place opens to the public on Thursday and will remain open until Jan. 1.