Drake Is Reviving an Abandoned Fantasy Amusement Park in Los Angeles — Here's How to Get Tickets

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The fantasy amusement park created by artist André Heller in the late 1980s.

<p>© Sabina Sarnitz. Courtesy Luna Luna, LLC</p> Aerial view of Luna Luna in Moorweide park. Hamburg, Germany, 1987.

© Sabina Sarnitz. Courtesy Luna Luna, LLC

Aerial view of Luna Luna in Moorweide park. Hamburg, Germany, 1987.

If anyone knows how to have a good time, it’s Drake. The actor-slash-rapper — he’ll always be a Degrassi kid to us first — is proving his fun and artistic prowess all in one go with his investment and revival of a long-forgotten amusement park.

The abandoned park debuted in Hamburg, Germany, in 1987. It was created by André Heller, who had commissioned works by the likes of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and more. At the time it was called “fairground of sensations" and "the museum of the future."

<p>© Keith Haring Foundation/licensed by Artestar, New York, © Sabina Sarnitz. Courtesy Luna Luna, LLC</p> Keith Haring with his painted carousel.

© Keith Haring Foundation/licensed by Artestar, New York, © Sabina Sarnitz. Courtesy Luna Luna, LLC

Keith Haring with his painted carousel.
<p>© Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat/licensed by Artestar, New York, © Sabina Sarnitz/Courtesy of Luna Luna, LLC</p>

© Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat/licensed by Artestar, New York, © Sabina Sarnitz/Courtesy of Luna Luna, LLC

According to the Los Angeles Times, Luna Luna’s perfectly preserved amusement park rides had been decommissioned from their original home and stored in a facility in Texas for more than 30 years. Drake and his entertainment firm, DreamCrew, purchased the rides and invested in recreating a park-like environment in Los Angeles, shelling out somewhere north of $100 million in total for the project, according to Hyperallergic.

The reimagined park is called "Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy," and is set to open to the public this month and run through the spring of 2024 in a massive, 60,000-square-foot complex.

<p>© Sabina Sarnitz/Courtesy of Luna Luna, LLC</p> L to R: André Heller, Dream Station. Luna Luna, Hamburg, Germany, 1987, Arik Brauer, Carousel. Luna Luna, Hamburg, Germany, 1987

© Sabina Sarnitz/Courtesy of Luna Luna, LLC

L to R: André Heller, Dream Station. Luna Luna, Hamburg, Germany, 1987, Arik Brauer, Carousel. Luna Luna, Hamburg, Germany, 1987

However, there is an important asterisk in all of this. Guests won’t actually be able to hop aboard the Ferris wheel created by Basquiat or the carousel by Haring. Yes, they’ll be able to get close to these pieces, but these are remarkably pricey and extraordinarily rare pieces of art, after all.

Still, the LA Times reported that Drake’s company aims to make the glorified art exhibit feel like a real carnival, with performers wandering the warehouse space. Guests can walk through pieces like Salvador Dalí’s "Dalídom," a geodesic dome that is perhaps the coolest fun house you’ll likely ever get to go into.

<p>© Sabina Sarnitz/Courtesy of Luna Luna, LLC</p> Salvador Dalí, Dalídom. Luna Luna, Hamburg, Germany, 1987

© Sabina Sarnitz/Courtesy of Luna Luna, LLC

Salvador Dalí, Dalídom. Luna Luna, Hamburg, Germany, 1987
<p>©Estate of Roy Lichtenstein, 1987, all rights reserved.© Sabina Sarnitz/Courtesy of Luna Luna, LLC</p> Performer in front of Roy Lichtenstein’s Luna Luna Pavilion. Luna Luna, Hamburg, Germany, 1987

©Estate of Roy Lichtenstein, 1987, all rights reserved.© Sabina Sarnitz/Courtesy of Luna Luna, LLC

Performer in front of Roy Lichtenstein’s Luna Luna Pavilion. Luna Luna, Hamburg, Germany, 1987

“The luna park is always a dream space,” Helen Molesworth, the park’s curatorial adviser, told the LA Times. “It’s like someone goes around and untightens the screws of your need to behave, your need to be good, your need to be smart, your need to be proper. Someone just untightens those four screws, and you can think different things and feel different things. You can tap into whatever it is in you that you locked up, whether it’s your childhood or sense of adventure or desire to be scared or desire to be bamboozled.”

Ticket prices are not yet available on the attraction’s website. However, you can sign up with your email to be alerted when ticket sales do open to the public.

And don’t fret if you can’t make it to Los Angeles over the next few months to see the pieces in person. DreamCrew shared in a statement with the LA Times, “Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy is the first installment of what will be a long-term project with a multi-faceted approach exploring the world of art and its intersection with today’s modern world.” So expect plenty more fantastical parks to come. 

Related: 23 Best Things to Do in LA, From Art Museums to Markets

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