digiPlaySpace Exhibition Extension

There’s now even more time to get hands-on with some of the world’s most fun and educational interactive museum exhibits as internationally-acclaimed digiPlaySpace will now stay at Eureka! until 15th April 2018.

digiPlaySpace has been created by artists from across the globe and is packed full of exciting stuff for kids to touch, control and play; combining fun and learning with robots, electronics, stop-motion animation, music and gaming. Admission to digiPlaySpace is included in the price of admission to or free to Annual Pass holders

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKSGQLJEjsY

The exhibition arrived here in July, on its first ever visit to Europe from the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). It is fully accessible physically and we’ve created an access guide with detailed information for visitors with sensory conditions.

The 14 exhibits include:

• Pop ‘n’ Lock – step into the spotlight and be filmed busting your best dance moves to create your own stop-motion animation
• Sphero Speedway – race a robotic sphere around a speedway and learn the basic elements of computer programming at the same time
• Line Wobbler – test hand-eye coordination in this award-winning LED game

digiPlaySpace was first introduced by TIFF in 2012 and its arrival here – supported by Arts Council England – marked our 25^th anniversary year. It has given us one of our busiest summers ever with nearly 60,000 visitors through the doors and we’re predicting the busiest year since 1998 with 300,000+ visits.

Leigh-Anne Stradeski, Eureka! Chief Executive, says: “We were proud to be the first museum in Europe to host digiPlaySpace and are now so excited that children locally and nationwide have more time to come and visit us in Yorkshire to experience it

“digiPlaySpace has gone down a storm with parents and children alike and our staff love it too. It has brought loads of laughter and screams of excitement to our Spark gallery. Each of the 14 exhibits offers a glimpse of what the future of museum interaction looks like and because our young visitors are increasingly digitally-savvy, it’s extremely rewarding for us to be offering such a forward-thinking installation.”

Leigh-Anne adds: “Since opening in 1992, Eureka! has brought smiles to the faces of more than 7.5m visitors. We can’t wait for thousands more to visit over the next few months and experience digiPlaySpace before it returns to Canada.”

Having just celebrated our 25^th anniversary year we’ve got huge expansion plans, and an aspiration to launch a second visitor attraction in Merseyside alongside the redevelopment of our existing site in Halifax.

Eureka! is now working with the Liverpool City Region on the £11m Wirral project to be located on the site adjacent to Seacombe Ferry Terminal. It is backed by Merseytravel (who run the site) and Wirral Council alongside strategic support from the Liverpool City Region Local Economic Partnership and the Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram. The building will focus on 7-14s to develop the technical and digital skills of children and teenagers to meet the demands of a changing workforce in the 21^st century. It could open as early as 2021, if fundraising is successful.

Alongside this, our existing Halifax site will be extended into the adjacent 3600sqm (38,750 sq ft) Great Northern Shed heritage building within the next six years; extending the age range we appeal to while welcoming an additional 150k to 200k visitors per year.