Six Flags Fright Fest Returns to Six Flags Great Adventure This Year

Prepare to be scared! Halloween is around the corner, which means Six Flags Fright Fest, one of the season's spookiest events, is returning to Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, N.J in early September. 

Due to the pandemic, Six Flags, which earned the Certified Autism Center designation last year, introduced Hallowfest in 2020. It featured a variety of activities and socially-distant scaring to keep guests safe during the pandemic. The event was successful, but according to park staff, people have been eager for the traditional Fright Fest experience to come back.

“We’re thrilled to bring back one of the most anticipated Halloween events of the season. Fright Fest has been a fall ‘must-do’ since the early 1990s,” said Chris Allen, Six Flags Great Adventure operations director. “In 2021, Fright Fest will incorporate all of the thrill rides, extreme scares, and fantastic shows that guests love, plus innovative twists that we introduced in Hallowfest last season. It’s the best of both worlds.”

What to Expect at Six Flags Fright Fest in 2021

The eight-week Halloween-themed festival will kick off Sept. 10 and run on weekends and select weekdays through Oct. 31. Admission includes six festively decorated areas and attractions for kids and families including a Trick-or-Treat Trail. Thrill rides will be open in the dark, including the park’s newest ride the Jersey Devil Coaster, set in an eerie night-time fog alongside a mist-covered lake. Live entertainment is part of the lineup, including the park's signature “Dead Man's Party” (check out this video of the party from 2019):

Fright Fest is fun for all ages, but parents should use their discretion when bringing younger children and toddlers.

“Daytime is family-friendly and appropriate for all ages,” said Kristen Fitzgerald, marketing and public relations manager at Six Flags Great Adventure. “Six p.m. and beyond is the scary time and not recommended for those 12 and under and those who scare easily. But you’d be surprised how many strollers stay in the park until closing! It really depends on the child.”

What's New for Fright Fest 2021?

Daytime family friendly activities include festive photo ops, dance parties, karaoke, a Pumpkin Patch Lane lined with pumpkins, hay bales and mums, trick-or-treating, and storytelling.

Plus, guests can experience the following, all of which are new for Fright Fest 2021:

• Frightworks: Guests can enjoy nine nights of fireworks set to a spooktacular music soundtrack, during weekends in September 
• ‘Venom Gulch’ Scare Zone: Frontier Adventures will be transformed into an abandoned Wild West town full of miners’ spirits
• ‘Xpedition Dino: Survival’ Haunted Maze: Xpedition Dino will transform into a haunted maze where humans must escape blood-thirsty dinosaurs
• ‘The Lab’ Haunted Maze: This maze will feature a secret laboratory where mysterious and unlicensed experiments take place
• Witch’s Brew: Six Flags will present story time for the littlest ghosts and ghouls with the friendly neighborhood witch.
• Jersey Devil Coaster: Guests will learn the legend behind the world’s tallest, fastest, and longest single-rail coaster. 
• Lil’ Devil Coaster: Debuting this fall, this pint-sized coaster offers thrills for the park’s smallest guests.

Each night at 6pm, the event takes an eerie turn with Fright by Night. Guests will see several shows, including The Arrival Ghoul Parade, featuring a horde of demented clowns and mutants; The Awakening, complete with pyrotechnics and loud noises; Dead Man's Party: Grave Stories, a frightening stage show; Unleashed, featuring acrobatics, illusion and dance; the Blood Drums percussion show; and Doc Swan's Sideshow of Oddities, featuring macabre exhibits. Plus, nine haunted mazes will be open and available for those with a Fright Pass.