Amusement parks set to woo guests with concerts and food festivals

Amusement parks in India are refreshing themes, adding immersive rides, and expanding non-ride activities - from food festivals to concerts

Amusement parks in India are ramping up their offerings with new attractions, changing themes to stay relatable with guests. They are adding more non-ride activities like food festivals and concerts to lure more visitors after footfalls corrected late 2024 and 2025.

 

Earlier, amusement parks used to have special concerts and shows curated mostly for year-end or around some select days during the year.

 

Now, those like Wonderla Holidays are adding new experiences for guests through non-ride activities like festivals and specific experiences around food offerings.

 

Meanwhile, Imagicaaworld Entertainment has several events planned around the holidays. They range from offers on ticket prices, special menus, cultural performances and night parades, except for the July-September quarter, due to the monsoon.

 

It also has its own intellectual property (IP) for an event called College Funbaazi, an inter-collegiate meet hosted on the last Friday of November.

 

Jai Malpani, managing director (MD), Imagicaaworld Entertainment, said that though these are smaller and softer aspects of amusement parks, they help in driving footfalls.

 

Apart from this, Imagicaaworld Entertainment recently announced a partnership with Hello Park, the world’s largest chain of immersive, digital-physical (phygital) play parks for children, and entering the indoor entertainment segment. This will be branded Imagicaa Hello Park.

 

Wonderla Holidays has seen a 12 per cent rise in footfalls to 505,000 in Q2FY26 compared with the same period last year. With a rise in spending per head, its ticket and food pricing have gone up by about 25-30 per cent, compared to pre-Covid times. Imagicaa Entertainment saw footfalls across all parks at 225,000 during the July-September quarter, facing an impact due to extended rains in India.

 

“At Wonderla, we have been curating festivals, food-led experiences, and occasional concerts across our parks as part of creating more reasons for guests to visit. These are largely experiential and marketing-led initiatives, and the activities vary by market, season, and cultural relevance,” said Arun Chittilappilly, executive chairman and MD, Wonderla Holidays.

 

He added, “For instance, in Kochi, we recently hosted a large-scale Onam festival, which included thematic attractions like Maveli Land, a curated Payasam Mela, and a full-fledged Onam Sadya served on banana leaves. We complemented these with cultural performances, including traditional art forms and extended night park hours featuring vibrant processions and live Chendamelam. We also hosted Tharangam, a popular music festival held at Wonderla Kochi to celebrate the park's 25th anniversary. This is an example of how we integrate local culture with the Wonderla experience.”

 

Chittilappilly added that while the frequency varies, it typically runs multiple such activities, along with concerts such as Sunburn, through the year. This is especially during weekends, holidays, and festive seasons.

 

These initiatives, he emphasised, are meant to enhance the overall guest experience and give families more reasons to visit.

 

“India’s out-of-home entertainment sector is undergoing resurgence, fuelled by consumers’ growing appetite for shared, physical experiences,” said Chandrashekar Mantha, partner, media and entertainment sector leader, Deloitte India.

 

He said, “Leading this transformation is the immersive entertainment market covering virtual, augmented, and mixed reality formats, which surpassed $6 billion in 2024. It is projected to exceed $26 billion by 2030, marking a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 25 per cent between 2025 and 2030.”

 

Wonderla Holidays, which has four amusement parks across Kochi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar, will open a new amusement park in Chennai in December.

 

This new park will feature eight themed dining venues (with 1,384 seats), along with its retail venue being designed to go beyond souvenirs. It would feature merchandise inspired by Tamil cinema and collaborations with local artisans, creating Thanjavur and Marapachi dolls and supporting regional craft traditions, its release stated.

 

Chittilappilly added the company is focusing on international-grade high-thrill coaster and spinning ride IPs, next-generation water-thrill technologies, and immersive scenic transport rides.

 

For this, Wonderla Holidays is spending about 10 per cent of its top line.

 

“As the Indian economy grows, the additional income will flow into discretionary spending, and entertainment is a key part of that. Indoor entertainment is a big open market in India, and it complements our outdoor parks.  It also gives us marketing synergies since we’ll be branding it as Imagicaa Hello Park,” added Malpani.

 

All the investments in this model will be led by the company, and it will pay royalties to Hello Park for providing technology and support.

 

“In the next two-three years, we want to be number one in the outdoor entertainment space. The long-term plan is to be the biggest player in out-of-home entertainment,” said Malpani.

 

He added the company has currently received environmental clearance for opening a park in the Sabarmati Riverfront, worth around ₹130 crore.