Six Flags Fright Fest

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This article is about events at Six Flags theme parks. For other events called "Fright Fest", see FrightFest (disambiguation).
Six Flags Fright Fest
FrightFestLogo.jpg
General statistics
SeasonHalloween (September – October)

Fright Fest (formerly known as Fright Nights) 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. In 2020, Fright Fest was reimagined to Hallowfest, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]

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.[3][4]

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.[5] 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-Present)[]

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[6] and DC Comics's Suicide Squad.[7]

In 2018, Fright Fest returned to Frontier City and Darien Lake, 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 will be rebranded to Hallowfest. The change from Fright Fest to Hallowfest included no haunted houses or indoor shows.[2][8][9] 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.[10][11]

General information[]

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.[12] Halloween-based shows are also performed, most notably "Love at First Fright" at Six Flags St Louis and Six Flags Great America,[13] 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. 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, Six Flags Over Texas, and Six Flags Great America. Another show, "Love at First Fright" is only shown at Six Flags St Louis, and Six Flags Great America, but was also shown at Six Flags Over Georgia for a while. 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, "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.

Locations[]

As of 2018, Locations with Fright Fest
Park Opening season Last Season Refs
Six Flags AstroWorld October 1986 October 30, 2005
Six Flags Over Georgia October 16, 1987 N/A [14]
Six Flags Over Texas October 15, 1988 N/A [15]
Six Flags St. Louis October 19, 1988 N/A [16]
Frontier City October 7, 1989 N/A [17]
Six Flags Great America October 19, 1991 N/A [18]
Six Flags Great Adventure October 17, 1992 N/A [19]
Six Flags Magic Mountain October 16, 1993 N/A [20]
Six Flags Fiesta Texas October 1996 N/A [21]
Six Flags Darien Lake October 1998 N/A [22][a]
Six Flags America October 1999 N/A [23]
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom October 1999 N/A [24]
Six Flags Elitch Gardens October 1999 October 2006 [25][b]
Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom October 1999 October 2009
The Great Escape October 1999 N/A [27]
Six Flags New England October 6, 2000 N/A [28]
La Ronde October 2002 N/A [29]
Six Flags Mexico October 2012 N/A [30]

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.

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Fright Fest did not operate from 2007-2017, when Darien Lake was not operating as a Six Flags park
  2. ^ Elitch Gardens was sold to PARC Management in 2007,[26] and PARC Management originally replaced Fright Fest with "Fall Family Fun Fest" after purchasing the park, adding family oriented areas such as hay mazes and pumpkin painting. The event was rebranded again as "FrightFest" from 2008 onward, avoiding the space between the words Fright and Fest as Fright Fest is a registered trademark of Six Flags. This continued in the years 2011-2014 when Herschend Family Entertainment managed the property. Elitch Gardens is currently managed by Premier Parks, LLC, and FrightFest remains.

References[]

  1. ^ "Six Flags Fright Fest". sixflags.com. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Six Flags announces a reimagined haunt season with Hallowfest". August 18, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  3. ^ "Fright Fest at AstroWorld scared and amused a generation of Houstonians". mysanantonio.com. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  4. ^ "Astroworld Timeline". facebook.com. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  5. ^ "Fright Fest". SFOT Source. 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
  6. ^ "New haunted house at Great America's Fright Fest -- Daily Herald". dailyherald.com. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  7. ^ "Six Flags Scares Up Suicide Squad Zone - License! Global". licensingexpo.com. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  8. ^ "Coronavirus: Six Flags replacing Fright Fest with Hallowfest". August 17, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  9. ^ "Hallowfest will return to Six Flags Fiesta Texas, but without haunted houses or indoor shows". August 19, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  10. ^ "Another California theme park launches a new Halloween event". October 16, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  11. ^ "Vallejo's Six Flags debuts Halloween festivities with COVID-19 safety protocols in place". October 18, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  12. ^ "Fright Fest". SFOT Source. 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
  13. ^ "Fright by Night". Six Flags St Louis. 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
  14. ^ "Fright Fest 2016". sixflags.com/overgeorgia. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  15. ^ "Six Flags Over Texas Fright Fest 2016". dallas.culturemap.com. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  16. ^ "Fright Fest 2016". sixflags.com/stlouis. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  17. ^ "Fright Fest - Frontier City". frontiercity.com. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  18. ^ "Great America Fright Fest 2016". www.coaster101.com. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  19. ^ "Fright Fest 2016". jerseyfamilyfun.com. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  20. ^ "Magic Mountain Fright Fest 2016". www.latimes.com/. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  21. ^ "Fright Fest 2016". sixflags.com. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  22. ^ "Fright Fest Returns To Darien Lake". darienlake.com. Retrieved 24 September 2018.}
  23. ^ "Fright Fest 2016". sixflags.com. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  24. ^ "Fright Fest Stumbles at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom". micechat.com. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  25. ^ "News - Elitch Gardens Theme and Water Park". elitchgardens.com. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  26. ^ "Six Flags sells seven parks - Park World". archive.org. 13 December 2007. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 31 March 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  27. ^ "What's New for Fright Fest 2016 - The Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom". sixflags.com. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  28. ^ "Fright Fest 2016". sixflags.com/newengland. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  29. ^ "What's New for Fright Fest 2016 - La Ronde". sixflags.com. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  30. ^ "Festival del Terror - Six Flags Mexíco". sixflags.com. Retrieved 31 March 2017.

External links[]

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