The Venice Immersive festival, a ten-year-old event dedicated to new media and immersive experiences, has grown from a small sideshow into a major attraction. Visitors can explore a range of installations, from interactive exhibits to serious storytelling, often using cutting-edge technology like headsets and lightweight extended reality (XR) glasses. One of the first installations encountered is a chest-high metal box with an eyepiece and two speakers. When used, it offers a view of oneself from above, accompanied by a virtual passerby in a blue suit who speaks with a French accent and questions the purpose of the experience. The festival has seen a significant increase in attendance, reflected in the more boats ferrying visitors and the bustling shantytown of food vendors near the lagoon. The program features a wide variety of projects, from playful animations to emotionally powerful narratives. For example, "Nevatars," an interactive kids' animation co-created by Andy Serkis, uses the new XR glasses, though some critics find the project overly simplistic. Other installations, like "Tomori" by Misa Haru and "The Pigeon Ring" by Yuqi Zhang and Shixin Tao, make effective use of limited space, encouraging interaction and exploration. Notable among the exhibits is "Out of the Ashes," a powerful eyewitness account of the 2025 LA wildfires created by Rory Mitchell and Nonny De La Pena. Another is "The White Saboteur," which lets viewers experience the melting of polar ice through the lens of Barthélemy Antoine-Loeff and Hugo Arcier. "Raj'in (We Shall Return)" is a 360-degree documentary that captures the realities of displaced communities in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, highlighting settler violence and efforts to digitally preserve at-risk communities. To make immersive experiences more accessible, the festival is expanding into location-based exhibition spaces, particularly in Asia. Smaller pieces benefit from the full surround sound and vision of XR glasses, while larger installations are being hosted in museums. Examples include "Smithsonian Starstruck" and "Amsterdam 1652: The Hands of the City." "Solwata," a portrait of flooded communities in the Solomon Islands, is being used as an advocacy tool and will be presented at the UN Climate Change Conference. Despite uncertainties about its future, Venice Immersive has established itself as a key player in immersive media, offering experiences that are often groundbreaking, galvanizing, and thought-provoking.