20 November 2023
Fairground Frights returned for another year of seaside scares for the 2023 Halloween season. Coming back for its fourth season, Fairground Frights is home to scare mazes, overlays on existing rides, roaming characters on top of an electric atmosphere across the park. After it’s introduction in 2020, Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach has grown with the event and now it is one of the most popular events they host at the park each year.
For those who have not heard of the event, it is hosted at Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach which is an amusement park by the seaside in Great Yarmouth. You can find this in Norfolk in the east side of the UK and is usually very popular during the summer & warmer months however, you can find them open every weekend from around March till the end of October.
Entry into Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach is always best purchased online however, you can get your tickets on the door if you are visiting the area. We highly recommend for events such as Fairground Frights, you do book these online prior to visiting as this event is one that is very popular. The event for 2023 ran for 5 nights between 5:30pm – 9pm, with the opening night and closing night both having fireworks.
Tickets to Fairground Frights cost £22 per person online and £24 on the gate, which included unlimited thrills on all rides & unlimited chills on all the horror attractions. For a 3 hour and 30 minute event, read below to see how we got on during the final night of the event!
Our thoughts for 2023…
This was our second ever visit to Fairground Frights and we were very excited to return. After attending in its opening year, we were interested to see how it had expanded in the last few years to be bigger & better. What Fairground Frights does well is creating an incredible atmosphere across the park and for 2023, this was no different. Club Tropico has been supporting the event since year 1 and they also have a lively DJ set which creates a buzzing atmosphere in the park, whatever the weather.
The roaming actors are always very different here and this year, the cast have played such different characters to what you would typically find. From a camp inmate, to rats to even a rat catcher, they had so much fun creating terror & chaos around the park and engaged with the public the whole night. We had so many interactive moments in queue lines and just roaming the park, which we loved.
The rides in the dark are always great fun and the lighting package from some of the rides do stand out like you would expect from an amusement park. Overall, Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach looks stunning and with all the additional Halloween entertainment, it was another superb year. Below, you can read our thoughts on the Halloween entertainment in more detail along with our ratings & exclusive photos.
To find out more about our scare ratings, click here!
Ghost Train & Snails & Scary Tales
Starting off with the ghost train which is named The Haunted Hotel. This is already an attraction year round at Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach however, during the Fairground Fright event you will find it much more spooky as they add actors inside. Compared to our first year visit, it feels a lot more polished as an attraction and the characters really got to know their space. It adds a new layer of scariness to a ghost train with characters inside. The reception start was something we had not seen before and was a comical way to start your journey before you’re soon screaming within.
Snails & Scary Tales is also another overlay on an existing attraction, which is the snails ride. Usually, this slow moving ride shows many fairytale scenes as you go along the route however, for Halloween they have brought this more to life with fun characters. With a few jumps & frights, they created more of a story with the handful of characters hidden within, with the witch in the courtyard certainly providing a very atmospheric scene. We also loved meeting the queen briefly in the ending scene!
Both these attractions are fun & spooky and shows what can be done to attractions they already have. This is so different compared to larger parks alone outside of the rest they offer and we still love these additions.
South Beach Institute – Brand new for 2023
Theming 75% | Storyline 90% | Screams 75% | Laughs 70% | Actors 80%
South Beach Institute is the brand new maze for 2023 and is being hosted in an unused space of the park, meaning this scare maze is an addition to the lineup and not removing anything. Based on an asylum, you go through a range of scenes from meeting the doctor, treatment and even meeting some of the patients. The character at the front was batching groups and keeping in character and provided much entertainment for those who were waiting. Moving inside, the first scene was truly terrifying with the nurse providing such an immersive storytelling introduction with her creepy attributes. The whole attraction had so many unique elements to it and the cast were so creepy, it threw us off guard completely. We weren’t expecting this level of detail! It had great theming, an amazing light package and a range of special effects to top it all off. Overall, it was our favourite maze of the night and for a fairground to pull off an attraction of this level, it shows the level of scare attractions has been raised this year.
Not SO Fun Factory
Theming 60% | Storyline 60% | Screams 70% | Laughs 85% | Actors 90%
The Not So Fun Factory has been a staple part of Fairground Frights from year 1 and this year is no different. Hosted in the fun house, for Halloween they add a clown overlay to the attraction with special effects and create chaos amongst the fun corridors and pathways. Each clown is so different in the way they interact but ultimately, they provided plenty of screams & laughs. What we didn’t expect is for them to team up to get bigger scares and managed to get us running through the labyrinth to get away from them. The passion and energetic team in this maze is high class and if you find yourself afraid of clowns, this can quickly become your worst nightmare.
The Workshop
Theming 60% | Storyline 75% | Screams 45% | Laughs 70% | Actors 60%
The Workshop was new for us on this visit and was brought to life in 2022 as the first proper scare maze. Since then, they have revamped it to make it better & scarier. With the theme of a maintenance shed, you have been hired in and starting your first day as one of the maintenance team. You get to take a tour and meet some of your co-workers however, not everything is as it seems. With it being hosted in the actual maintenance shed, there is such a range of stuff inside which makes it look authentic and that’s because it is. The actors were again very creepy lurking in the shadows with their weapons and providing the sense of urgency to keep moving on. We did feel that in a few sections there could be improvements as after the great introduction, it did feel to drop a little of standards, especially when compared to their new maze. Overall, The Workshop created plenty of comical moments, a handful of screams and a very clever storyline to work with its location and theme.
Overall, Fairground Frights offers all of the charm of a funfair and all the frights you expect from a Halloween event. It has such a unique atmosphere, creating overlays to their attractions and adding 2 terrifying scare mazes, with South Beach Institute being standout for sure. We always love the ending of the Fairground Frights evenings, as they bring all of the characters to the stage and they dance to the music with the guests. Meaning you can see the whole roaming street team at the end of the night having a great time amongst everyone else.
With us also visiting on the last night, we managed to experience the firework display which is also included in the park ticket. This was a fantastic ending with the music from Club Tropico, the actors in the background and the sky being brought to life with a fantastic display.
A huge thank you to the team at Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach for inviting us along to the event. They did provide us two complimentary tickets and exclusive access to take some footage on the rides & mazes. The team has done so well for creating a perfect end of season event and we always look forward to seeing what is next on the cards.
Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach is now closed for 2023 however, keep up to date to see what happens for the 5th year of Fairground Frights by following them on their socials and also whatever fun events they may have!
Attractions 80%
Entertainment 90%
Atmosphere 100%
value for money 100%
uniqueness 90%
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