Coffs Harbour is officially the first regional city to welcome a show-stopping LEGO® exhibition. RELICS: A New World Rises is set in a time when humans are extinct, and MiniFigs have created communities in their old belongings.
An old piano sits in a dimly lit corner, night lights emanating from within. Step closer and you’ll discover a world of vaudeville delights. There are jazz musicians jamming, buskers on the streets, performance troupes entertaining visitors. Magicians, dancers and even some pop-up stores selling street food.
Across the way, there’s a rotund retro fridge with a fancy ski resort inside it, next to a cryonics centre so that MiniFigs (LEGO® people) can stop the effects of aging and have the chance to come back to life again in the future.
Further down the room, a long-abandoned jetski has been turned into a Miami-style city complete with resorts, beaches, salons and swim-up bars. It’s next to a town with a huge recycling plant, processing waste such as plastic bottles, and turning them into high-rise housing towers in the city of Trashtopia.
The stories behind each of the twelve mesmerising, immersive displays were created by LEGO® Masters winners Jackson Harvey and Alex Towler. And it’s not just kids and teens who’ll love this new world rising. Adults will be equally enthralled, and for many, it’s also a nostalgic trip down memory lane, where mix tapes meant collections of your favourite music, and you needed to physically flick the clunky dial on the boxy wooden TV to find out what was on.
Exhibition or time machine?
In a New World Rises, visitors are transported to the year 2130, when humans have depleted the planet’s natural resources, leaving behind all of their once-beloved material belongings and trash.
Despite mass consumption, the world is slowly recovering, and new life is beginning to emerge. Inside discarded objects, communities of MiniFigs are rising, with each world inspired by the relic that the little people now call home.
Inside a vintage grandfather clock, clever inventors have reverse engineered its mechanisms to create a time machine. In a once-loved amplifier, a rock concert is in full swing, with a mosh pit of Minifigs having the time of their lives.
There are so many intricate worlds to explore, and it’s incredible to think that every single one of the thousands of MiniFigs are busy doing something. It’s hard to know what to zero in on.
Mighty LEGO® masters let their imaginations run wild
This incredible exhibition is the brainchild of best friends and LEGO® lovers, Jackson Harvey and Alex Towler. After winning season two of the hit reality show LEGO® Masters, the pair put their minds to bigger and grander LEGO® projects.
What resulted is RELICS – a fully immersive art experience described by Jackson as “the love child between an antique shop, The LEGO® Movie, and Blade Runner.”
According to Alex, “RELICS is for everyone, old and young. Kids will get excited by the intricate LEGO®, but this exhibition has really been created with adults in mind, the objects themselves are full of nostalgia and the stories we’re telling have a lot of references that only adults will understand.”
RELICS’ regional run
After successful seasons in Adelaide, Melbourne, Auckland, Dunedin and Sydney, RELICS is coming to regional Australia for the first time. The exhibition will open at Coffs Harbour’s Yarrila Arts and Museum (YAM) on March 28, in an exciting exhibition space named after a Gumbaynggirr word aptly meaning illuminate, brighten, light up and illustrate.
RELICS will include interactive building areas where you can design and share your own LEGO® models, scavenger hunts for adults and children, and a free audio description guide that can be downloaded onto your personal device.
“As the first regional stop on our Australian tour, we couldn’t be more excited to bring RELICS to YAM at Coffs Harbour. As an ECO destination, it’s an ideal location for an exhibition that takes a fun, yet thoughtful approach to themes of sustainability and waste management,” says Alex.
While you’re in town for RELICS, take the opportunity to explore Coffs Harbour’s many attractions, enjoy its amazing art scene on a dedicated art trail, and relax at some its many beautiful beaches and inlets. There are accommodation packages to suit groups of friends, families, couples and those flying solo, so make a holiday out of it, and leave feeling refreshed and inspired.
Book your tickets HERE (on sale from Feb 9, or become a VIP for early access).
Adults: $21
Kids $13
Concession: $15
Under 3 years: Free
RELICS Augmented Reality Game
RELICS guests can unlock a whole new world of fun with an augmented reality game on the Coffs Coast Explorer App. Using their phones, users will collect hidden Relics MiniFigs at key locations across the region. The digital characters include the Mayor, Jackson and Alex. Completing the collection unlocks a reward redeemable at YAM when visiting the exhibition.
Stay & Play Packages
Two dedicated accommodation packages are available for visitors, in partnership with Coffs Coast Holiday Park at Park Beach and The Observatory Apartments.
Package 1: The Coffs Coast Holiday Park
Priced at $412, the package includes two nights’ accomodation in a villa at Coffs Coast Holiday Park, and a family pass to the RELICS exhibition.
Package 2: The Observatory
Priced at $595, the package offers two nights’ accomodation at The Observatory in an Ocean View Studio Apartment for two guests. You will also receive two adult tickets to the RELICS exhibition, and a $70 breakfast or dinner voucher for Stef & Co.
These packages are valid for stays from 28 March – 19 July 2026 (excluding school holidays and Easter Long Weekend).
To read about the best things to see and do on the Coffs Coast, click here.
Rex flies to Coffs Harbour. Head to the Rex website or check out the route map below for more details.
