Six Flags Fright Fest Explained

Six Flags
Fright Fest
Opened:1986
Type:Annual event
Theme:Halloween
Custom Label 1:Operator
Custom Value 1:Six Flags
Custom Label 2:Date
Custom Value 2:September to October
Custom Label 3:Website
Custom Value 3:Official website

Fright Fest (also known as Festival Del Terror at Six Flags México) is a Halloween-oriented haunt event held annually at Six Flags theme parks in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.[1] It mainly features haunted attractions, themed areas named Scare Zones, and live entertainment.[2]

It opened as Fright Nights at Six Flags AstroWorld in 1986. In 2020, Fright Fest was reimagined to Hallowfest, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]

History

Fright Nights era (1986-1993)

After testing various Halloween-based seasonal events throughout the 1970s to mid-1980s, Six Flags, then owned by Bally Manufacturing, created an all-new Halloween event for AstroWorld in 1986 that they named Six Flags Fright Nights.[4] [5]

In 1987, the event began to be expanded to Six Flags' other properties. Six Flags Over Georgia was the second park to introduce the event.

Six Flags Over Mid-America was the third park to introduce Fright Nights in 1988 with Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street as the event's "entertainment chairman". The all-new Fright Nights featured House of the Living Dead, a walk-through inside of the ride building for the Time Tunnel dark ride, as well as the "Terror Train", a horror train show on the Tommy G. Robertson Railroad.

In 1989, Fright Nights debuted at Six Flags Over Texas.[6] Like the parks in Texas and Missouri, Freddy Krueger was the central figure of the event. It featured haunted houses, a trick or treat trail for kids, and more.

Fright Fest era (1993-2023)

In 1999, Six Flags licensed and opened Alice Cooper's Brutal Planet haunted houses at some parks, featuring music from the album and using similar elements in each house. The next year it became just simply "Brutal Planet" and dropped the Alice Cooper theme. Since then, Six Flags has licensed other intellectual properties for mazes and scare zones, including the Saw films[7] and DC Comics's Suicide Squad.[8]

In 2018, Fright Fest returned to Frontier City and Darien Lake (later renamed as Six Flags Darien Lake since May 4, 2019), two former Six Flags parks re-acquired by the company on May 22, 2018.

To comply with the new health and safety protocols implemented by Six Flags due to the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020, the company announced that their Halloween event would be rebranded to Hallowfest. The change from Fright Fest to Hallowfest included no haunted houses or indoor shows.[3] [9] [10] Six Flags Discovery Kingdom held a different event called Boo 2020! for the 2020 season, as the park operated as a zoo for the season to act in accordance with local government guidelines with the state.[11] [12]

In 2022, Six Flags introduced another Halloween event alongside Fright Fest, called Kids Boo Fest, a kids-oriented Halloween event with trick-or-treat trails along with in-park entertainment, that is held in mornings.[13] [14] On October 7, 2022, all Six Flags amusement parks implemented a new policy in which it limited the size of bags and subjected all bags to X-ray screening.[15] [16] While a reason for the change was not stated by the parks, an editor from the Theme Park Tribune said the new policies could be related to recent guest altercations, including shootings, at Kennywood and Six Flags Great America.[17]

Fright Fest Extreme era (2024-present)

On June 25, 2024, Six Flags announced in a press release that the event was rebranded as Fright Fest Extreme. This enhanced version of their annual Halloween event featured haunted attractions inspired by well-known horror franchises, namely Saw, Stranger Things, Army of the Dead, The Conjuring Universe, Trick ‘r Treat, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and DCeased.[18]

Attractions and shows

Six Flags parks are heavily decorated for Fright Fest, and mainly feature haunted attractions at an extra charge, as well as live entertainment and scare zones.[19] Halloween-based shows are also performed, most notably "Love at First Fright" at Six Flags Great America, Six Flags St. Louis[20] and Six Flags Over Texas,[21] as well as opening ceremonies and closing finales such as "Freaks Unleashed" and "Final Freakout" at Six Flags St Louis which brings all the actors into the park for a first and last scare.[22]

The parks also feature themed "Scare Zones" in designated areas of the park where costumed actors are allowed to scare guests, though these parks also typically include areas where the actors are not allowed, thus allowing a "safe" area for families with small children or otherwise not wanting to be scared.

Many of the parks have similar shows and share names and ideas, like "Dead Man's Party", which is at Six Flags St Louis, Six Flags New England, Six Flags Over Georgia, Six Flags Great Adventure and Six Flags Over Texas.[23] "The Ringmaster's Cabaret" is another show, but is exclusively shown at Six Flags Great America.[24]

Most also have a specific show that unleashes the monsters into the parks, including "Freaks Unleashed" at Six Flags St. Louis, "Awakening" at Six Flags Great Adventure and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom,[25] "The Uprising" at Six Flags Over Georgia, Six Flags America, Six Flags Great America, "The Arrival" at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, and "Unleashed!" at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

Some parks also have their own respective characters that lead Fright Fest at their park, such as Dr. Diabolical at Six Flags Fiesta Texas[26] and Nox at Six Flags Great America.

Locations

, locations with Fright Fest
Park Opening season Last Season!Refs
[27]
[28]
[29]
[30]
[31]
[32]
[33]
[34]
[35]
[36]
[37]
[38]
[39]
[40]
[41]
[42]
[43]

Awards

Fright Fest at Six Flags Magic Mountain has won USA Today's Reader's Choice Award for Best Theme Park Halloween Event twice, in 2016 and 2017.[44] Additionally, Fright Fest for all parks has also been nominated for the same category in 2022, placing second place, behind Kings Island’s Halloween Haunt.[45]

See also

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Six Flags Fright Fest. sixflags.com. March 31, 2017.
  2. Web site: Six Flags Great America Fright Fest presented by SNICKERS® - Visit Lake County - Official Travel Site . August 23, 2022 . Visit Lake County, Illinois . english.
  3. Web site: Six Flags announces a reimagined haunt season with Hallowfest. August 18, 2020. October 28, 2020.
  4. Web site: Fright Fest at AstroWorld scared and amused a generation of Houstonians. mysanantonio.com. March 31, 2017.
  5. Web site: Astroworld Timeline. facebook.com. March 31, 2017.
  6. Web site: Fright Fest. 2016. SFOT Source. September 20, 2017.
  7. Web site: New haunted house at Great America's Fright Fest -- Daily Herald. dailyherald.com. March 31, 2017.
  8. Web site: Six Flags Scares Up Suicide Squad Zone - License! Global. licensingexpo.com. March 31, 2017.
  9. Web site: Coronavirus: Six Flags replacing Fright Fest with Hallowfest. August 17, 2020. October 28, 2020.
  10. Web site: Hallowfest will return to Six Flags Fiesta Texas, but without haunted houses or indoor shows. August 19, 2020. October 28, 2020.
  11. Web site: Another California theme park launches a new Halloween event. October 16, 2020. October 28, 2020.
  12. Web site: Vallejo's Six Flags debuts Halloween festivities with COVID-19 safety protocols in place. October 18, 2020. October 28, 2020.
  13. Web site: Six Flags Fright Fest Returns This Year With More Fall Fun . September 5, 2022 . www.nymetroparents.com . en.
  14. Web site: Swidler • • . Francie . Everything We Know About This Year's Fright Fest at Six Flags Great America . September 18, 2022 . NBC Chicago . en-US.
  15. Web site: Davis-Friedman . Samantha . October 7, 2022 . New Six Flags bag policy implemented for Fright Fest . October 8, 2022 . Attractions Magazine . en-US.
  16. Web site: October 8, 2022 . Six Flags Over Texas implements new security measures for backpacks . October 8, 2022 . . en-US.
  17. Web site: Gregory . John . October 7, 2022 . Six Flags parks limiting large bags for Fright Fest - Theme Park Tribune, theme park news . October 8, 2022 . Theme Park Tribune . en-US.
  18. Web site: Six Flags Unmasks Fright Fest Extreme With the SAW Franchise, The Conjuring, Annabelle, The Nun, Stranger Things, Army of the Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Trick ‘r Treat & DC Comic Book Series, DCeased . 2024-06-25 . investors.sixflags.com . en.
  19. Web site: Fright Fest. 2016. SFOT Source. September 20, 2012.
  20. Web site: Jaredserra . October 11, 2021 . Love At First Fright at Six Flags St. Louis - . September 10, 2022 . en-US.
  21. Web site: Fright Fest Returns to Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington Sept. 11-Oct. 31 . September 10, 2022 . www.arlingtontx.gov . en-US.
  22. Web site: Knudson . Annalise . August 25, 2021 . Six Flags Fright Fest begins Sept. 10: Haunted mazes, thrilling rides and more . August 23, 2022 . silive . en.
  23. Web site: Dead Man's Party at Six Flags America Fright Fest . August 23, 2022 . . en-US.
  24. Web site: Six Flags Great America Fright Fest returns for its 30th anniversary . August 23, 2022 . Chicago Tribune.
  25. Web site: Fright Fest 2014 Park Guide . Six Flags Great Adventure .
  26. Web site: Fright Fest 2022 Six Flags Fiesta Texas . September 10, 2022 . SFFT Source . en-US.
  27. Web site: Fright Fest 2016. sixflags.com/overgeorgia. March 1, 2017.
  28. Web site: Six Flags Over Texas Fright Fest 2016. dallas.culturemap.com. October 14, 2016 . March 1, 2017.
  29. Web site: Fright Fest 2016. sixflags.com/stlouis. March 1, 2017.
  30. Web site: Fright Fest - Frontier City. frontiercity.com. September 24, 2018.
  31. Web site: Great America Fright Fest 2016. www.coaster101.com. October 26, 2016 . January 8, 2017.
  32. Web site: Fright Fest 2016. jerseyfamilyfun.com. March 8, 2017.
  33. Web site: Magic Mountain Fright Fest 2016. www.latimes.com/. August 21, 2015 . March 1, 2017.
  34. Web site: Fright Fest 2016. sixflags.com. March 9, 2017.
  35. Web site: Fright Fest Returns To Darien Lake. darienlake.com. September 24, 2018.
  36. Web site: Fright Fest 2016. sixflags.com. March 9, 2017.
  37. Web site: Fright Fest Stumbles at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. micechat.com. October 24, 2015 . March 31, 2017.
  38. Web site: News - Elitch Gardens Theme and Water Park. elitchgardens.com. March 31, 2017.
  39. Web site: What's New for Fright Fest 2016 - The Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom. sixflags.com. March 31, 2017.
  40. Web site: Fright Fest 2016. sixflags.com/newengland. February 28, 2017.
  41. Web site: Ohio theme parks take on Halloween flavor this month. toledoblade.com. July 1, 2024.
  42. Web site: What's New for Fright Fest 2016 - La Ronde. sixflags.com. March 31, 2017.
  43. Web site: Festival del Terror - Six Flags Mexíco. sixflags.com. March 31, 2017.
  44. Web site: Best Theme Park Halloween Event Winners (2017) USA TODAY 10Best . August 30, 2022 . 10Best . en.
  45. Web site: Vote for Fright Fest at Six Flags as 2022's Best Theme Park Halloween Event . August 30, 2022 . 10Best . en.