Cirque du Soleil is venturing into the theme park business, with the world-famous circus troupe teaming up with Mexican resort and tourism-infrastructure developer Grupo Vidanta to build and operate a “first-of-its-kind immersive theme park experience” in Nuevo Vallarta.

The act’s new entertainment venture, which is still in development, will see Cirque du Soleil artists animate each area, with the rides to follow a common storyline.

Grupo Vidanta is one of Mexico’s leading developers and operators of world-class luxury resorts, properties and infrastructure. The developer is remaining tight-lipped on most of the details, but did say a waterpark, nature park elements and an outdoor show accommodating up to 5,000 spectators would be included.

“Grupo Vidanta is offering us an amazing sandbox in which we can unleash our creativity,” said Cirque du Soleil founder, Guy Laliberté. “Both our groups strive for perfection. We have set ourselves the challenge of creating something unlike anything the world has seen before.”

The planned entertainment park, of which financial details are yet to be revealed, will create thousands of jobs in the Mexican state of Nayarit according to the developers and has been imagined to encourage tourism visits to the region. The development is expected to be complete by 2018.

Cirque du Soleil has also recently partnered with the PortAventura theme park in Spain. Read our feature about the unique tie-up in the latest Attractions Management, available online here.