On 5 March, the California Road Trip Republic will come to life at Waterloo Station, London, with Minifornia: An Epic Road Trip Experience. An immersive video experience, Minifornia will connect viewers' point-of-view road trips taking place in miniature within a custom 20-by-20-foot model of California.

Placed in the midst of Waterloo's concourse, the Minifornia experience will include a convoy of miniature cars and RVs 'road-tripping' on four routes across the model, capturing footage of road-trip journeys from cameras attached to the front of cars. The footage will be transmitted live to users wearing video headsets, as well as across the large motion screens in Waterloo, so viewers can imagine they're in the car themselves. Users wearing the headsets will have the opportunity to accompany their road trip experience with a selection of California driving inspired songs, from Bruce Springsteen and Iggy Pop, to Prince and Rhianna.

Designed and built by an A-list team of Hollywood set builders, the model includes hand-carved replicas of California's jaw-dropping scenery and magnificent natural structures, such as El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, the snow-covered slopes of Mammoth Mountain and the mid-century modern architecture of Palm Springs. Viewers will also recognise 10 iconic sites from Los Angeles as the cars go past the Hollywood sign, Griffith Observatory and even miniature surfers catching waves in Venice Beach. Passersby will be transported to California through an arresting, tactile and novel combination of old world craftmanship with the latest in today's tech, as the cars drive around the roads without the use of tracks.

Minifornia was conceived as part of Visit California's global California Road Trip Republic campaign. A new advertising spot, “Born to Be Wild,” launched in the UK in January, alongside a range of custom experiences across platforms including Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and Spotify.

“California's abundance is virtually endless – from coastal routes, majestic mountain passes and across desert landscape,” Visit California President and CEO Caroline Beteta said. “The essence of the California road trip experience will come to life with Minifornia, and London travellers will learn just how easy it is to plan an epic trip to the Golden State.”

“Los Angeles is the perfect place for intrepid explorers to start or end their California road trip. We have some of the most iconic drives for UK travellers where they can relive what inspired musicians and directors alike; from driving along Mulholland Drive like in Tom Petty's Free Fallin, watching the sun go down whilst cruising through the Hollywood Hills like Duran Duran's Drive By, to hitting the freeway in Damien Chazelle's opening scene from La La Land. So plan to spend a few days exploring our City of Angels by car and see why Los Angeles is the epicenter of car culture.” said Ernest Wooden, Jr., president & CEO of Los Angeles Tourism.

Minifornia will be open to the public 5–7 March, 7am – 9pm. Consumers who visit the model in Waterloo will also be in with the chance to win their own epic trip to California, with a prize package of return flights to Los Angeles with British Airways and car hire with Avis.  

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For more information on Visit California and the Waterloo activation please contact:

Emma Westman, UK Account Director, emma.westman@visitcalifornia.co.uk

Grace Verdon, PR Manager, grace.verdon@visitcalifornia.co.uk 

High res images are available for downloading here (credit Visit California)

ABOUT MINIFORNIA

Designed and built in incredible detail by Vision Scenery, the biggest set shop in Los Angeles, this was a 4-6 month design and build project that was completed in less than 11 weeks by an A-list team of Hollywood set builders - a team of 25 artisans, welders, model builders, designers and sculptors who have more than 400 years of combined experience. The miniature structures have been created using a 3D modelling programme and 3D printing, and every inch of the model was painstakingly created by hand.

ABOUT VISIT CALIFORNIA

Visit California is a nonprofit organisation with a mission to develop and maintain marketing programs – in partnership with the state's travel industry – that keep California top-of-mind as a premier travel destination. According to Visit California, spending by travellers totaled $140.6 billion in 2018 in California, generating nearly 1.2 million jobs in the state and $11.8 billion in state and local tax revenues. For more information about Visit California go to www.visitcalifornia.co.uk. For story ideas, media information, downloadable images, video and more, go to media.visitcalifornia.co.uk