Entertainment

A Fully-Immersive Westworld Theme Park Is Coming to SXSW

There's Two Whole Acres of Custom-Built Parkland to Explore. Plus, Cocktails.

By Sam Eichner ·
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Photo: HBO

Those who've watched HBO's Westworld and longed for their chance to fuck around in the anything-goes theme park themselves will finally get their chance(-ish) at South by Southwest, the annual festival of film, music, TV and more in Austin, Texas. For three days, from Friday, March 9th to Sunday, March 11th, fans will have the chance to explore two whole acres-worth of parkland, interact with a variety of hosts, hunt for clues about season two (which premieres April 22nd) and enjoy western-themed food and drinks in reproductions of The Coronado hotel and the infamous Mariposa Saloon.

According to the press release, once you've registered at Discover Westworld, you'll check-in at Austin's EastSide Tavern, where you'll be assigned either a white hat or black hat—a reference to Ed Harris's character in the show. Then you'll be whisked away to the park on a Delos shuttle, dropped into the center of Sweetwater and left to your own devices for about two hours, with no guidebook or orientation. You can spend this time searching for clues about the new season, either around the park or by talking to hosts. Or you can simply wander around until you get thirsty, and then sidle up to the bar for a few drinks. Regardless of what you do, it should go without saying that ruthlessly murdering hosts for sport and having sex with the women at the saloon is off-limits, because Westworld doesn't actually exist, and you'd be better than that even if it did. 

For a select, invite-only group, the experience will start even earlier. HBO has teamed up with Delta Air Lines to provide these VIPs with an immersive, Westworld-themed flight from LAX to Sweetwater (via Austin) on Friday, the 9th. What exactly this will entail is unclear, but somehow, some way, you'll want to secure yourself a seat on that plane. 

Check out the teaser for what HBO is calling the "Live Without Limits" weekend below.

 

Sam Eichner

Sam Eichner likes literature, reality television and his twin cats equally. He has consistently been told he needs a shave since he started growing facial hair.

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