Floating visitors have sensory experience

Arboria, the world's newest luminarium is coming to Tauranga for the city's Arts Festival. Photo/supplied

The sounds of an Ecuadorian cloud forest will drift through the world's newest luminarium which is coming to The Strand as part of the Tauranga Arts Festival.

Alice Eldridge, a British musician and "soundscape ecologist", made the recordings, later adding her own piano composition to add another layer of sensory experience to the luminarium's light- and colour-filled interior, which is an ode to trees.

Although a change of luminarium wasn't expected, Tauranga Arts Festival director Jo Bond is over the moon at the news the city is to host Arboria, which will be just five months old when it arrives.

Architects of Air, the British company that makes the walk-in, inflatable sculptures, originally planned to send 2012 model Exxopolis.

However, the replacement Arboria is described as as "a real win," by Ms Bond.

"Nothing else has changed - it still opens on October 16, ticket prices remain the same, and this is still the only place it will visit in the Bay of Plenty-Waikato region - and we have a bonus, being among the first in the world to experience Arboria."

Luminariums have been touring the globe since 1992, visiting 43 countries on five continents and enchanting more than two million visitors.

the fine print
What: Arboria
Where: The Strand
When: October 16 to
November 1
Timed-entry tickets for the luminarium are on sale from Baycourt or ticketek.co.nz.
Adult entry is $12 (plus booking fee), with discounts for families.
Tickets purchased for Exxopolis are valid for Arboria.