Over the weekend, I had the chance to experience a unique official event for the Netflix Original Series, Stranger Things (and more). The event was called Netflix Red Forest; it featured several interactive exhibits all from upcoming Netflix series and movies. As mentioned, the big draw was the “Upside Down” from Stranger Things. Netflix created forests, strung up Christmas lights, and placed bicycles around the trees, along with Eggos and maple syrup (naturally).
Additionally, Netflix recreated the Twilight Drive-In from The CW’s Riverdale (which airs exclusively on Netflix here in Canada) as well as an Orc tree from the upcoming Will Smith movie, Bright.
The event was part of Toronto’s art event, Nuit Blanche, which takes place from sundown to sunrise.
I arrived close to the beginning of the evening and immediately lined up for the Netflix Red Forest. Even early on, there was an epic number of people waiting to check out the installation. I waited about 45 minutes to get my turn to wander through.
This, of course, was nothing compared to the lines later. By the time I left, there was easily a 2-3 hour wait for eager fans.
There were two reasons for this wait. The Netflix crew didn’t want the exhibit to be packed full of people; this would ensure that those who waited in long lines had a comfortable amount of space to enjoy the experience. The line was also lengthy because you had to be in line in order to acquire a hazmat suit to wear into the exhibit.
To prevent line jumpers and the like, patient people were rewarded with their hazmat suit and a Netflix Red Forest pin that gave them access to the installation. Anyone in the exhibit without one was escorted away by security (mayhaps the Hawkins National Laboratory security team?).
You can check out photos from the experience below and below that, you can see a video of the exhibit, complete with sound.
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