Knott’s Berry Farm has struck gold with its new family-friendly Halloween festival! This past Friday was the kickoff to the latest in a string of festivals at Knott’s Berry Farm, Taste of Fall-O-Ween. For the third iteration of a modified theme park festival (without rides or attractions), Knott’s has really honed in on what works, innovating safe entertainment, and tapping into the seasonal spirit we’ve been missing out on this year. Here’s a rundown of Knott’s Taste of Fall-O-Ween.
Update 9/29: After we published this article, all the available dates for Taste of Fall-O-Ween quickly sold out. But don’t fear, Knott’s has added more dates to this popular event! Select Thursdays have been added throughout the duration of the festival which ends November 1.
Update 10/1: Knott’s has just announced that they’ve added another day to the Taste of Fall-O-Ween. Monday, October 12 (Indigenous People’s Day) has been added to the schedule. At the time of updating this article, there are still tickets available for all the previously added Thursdays.
The Perfect Mix of Spooky and Kooky
This hasn’t been the easiest year for anyone, and especially for California theme parks. But somehow amidst the chaos, Knott’s has found the perfect middle ground that has allowed the park to reopen under retail and dining rules that give theme park fans a new way to experience theme park fun. Knott’s reopened in a limited capacity for a food festival back in July with Taste of Calico, without rides running and keeping capacity very low. After a great response, the park followed up with a more ambitious festival, Taste of Knott’s, that ended earlier this month. Now, the third time’s the charm with Taste of Fall-O-Ween, which has embraced Knott’s Halloween expertise while retaining a family-friendly atmosphere. Fall-O-Ween is primarily a food festival with tickets directly linked as tasting cards ($35 for adults with 5 tastes; $20 for children with 3 tastes and trick or treating included). But it’s the Halloween decor, entertainment, and music that make this event such a sincere experience.
While the annual Knott’s Scary Farm event had to be shelved this year, they were able to use the decorations and props from previous mazes and shows throughout the park for a fully themed atmosphere. Everywhere you look, there are cobwebs and skeletons, pumpkins and fall foliage, and so much more. Knott’s uses live actors in key areas of the park to act as entertainment, albeit from a distance. While you’re walking through Ghost Town, you might hear a character calling out to you, and lots of kid-friendly jokes. It’s a small detail in the grand scale of things, but it really makes it seem you’re spending a regular day at a theme park instead of a modified food festival. Hats off to Knott’s!
And the transition between the lighthearted daytime and the spookier nighttime lighting transforms and elevates the event. It’s a sight that would otherwise be left unseen by most guests, as the night lighting is typically reserved for the popular Knott’s Scary Farm event (which is a scary separately ticketed special event not suitable for young children). But in the context of this event, the lighting, music, and fog create a magically mysterious Halloween vibe without the need to be constantly looking for the next monster to scare you. Taste of Fall-O-Ween is really a great opportunity for those who may have been too scared to attend the Halloween Haunt, but really want to see the decor.
We’ll give you an example of the day to night transition. By day these pumpkins are bright and not at all scary. But, by night they take on a spookier tone.
We only intended to spend a few daytime hours at the event, but ended up staying all the way to close. We just couldn’t get enough of the environment.
One of my personal favorite additions to Knott’s Halloween offerings is something that has really benefitted from the park’s modified operations. Ghost Town’s graveyard is often overlooked by guests, sometimes used as a shortcut to avoid crowds. But since there are no monsters to be hiding from and no queues to wait in for attractions, you’re really able to soak in the atmosphere and enjoy the extraordinary details of the park. For Taste of Fall-O-Ween, there’s a little “show” which runs randomly at night where one of the people buried in the cemetery is resurrected as a ghost to tell their life and death stories. In normal times, this would probably be overlooked, but in these uncertain times, it’s a fun detail that can be appreciated by many more people.
One thing that we did notice was that the crafters and artisans were significantly scaled back compared to previous events. Our guess is that those vendors weren’t getting as much traffic as they were hoping for due to the limited attendance. That said, there are still some vendors in Fiesta Village and Calico Square that have artisanal products for sale.
We did see a few craft stalls that are perfect for the season. There’s a pumpkin decorating station that’s a fun activity you can take home. Pick out a pumpkin and a package of decorations. Once you get home, you can follow the recipe on the underside to make pumpkin pie. Very clever!
$6 for a little pumpkin and $8 for a bigger one.
Additionally, there’s cookie decorating available. This is a pretty standard Knott’s activity, but its perfect for families.
Trick or Treat!
The highlight of the event is the reopening of Camp Snoopy as an incredibly well themed trick-or-treat trail. The trail is sponsored by Hershey’s and Ralphs, so there’s a lot of chocolate involved! Kids have this activity included in the price of admission, and interested adults can add this on for $8. But anyone can walk through the area without paying. And we highly recommend that you do!
With a variety of props ranging from folksy to just-shy-of-scary, there’s something to see for every age group. This is another example of how Knott’s has gone above and beyond during these strange times. If you’ve got little ones who can’t handly and of the creepy stuff, go during the day. This area takes on the feel of a scare zone (but without scary monsters) at night.
Throughout the trail, you’ll see some decorations that may seem familiar. And that’s for good reason! It’s a blend of props from previous Scary Farm mazes and new decor to create something fully original. And by putting the somewhat creepy decorations in with the lighthearted Halloween decorations it softens the edges during the daytime and brings out the unsettling feeling at night.
As elsewhere in the park, you’ll find characters on the trail. Peanuts characters, comical scarecrows, and some surprises.
One of my favorite parts about the Trick or Treat Trail was the skeletons on all of the rides in the area. Who says you can only have fun while you’re alive?!
Here’s a nighttime walkthrough of the trail (taken just moments before the event ended at 9pm):
Knott’s competitors should be visiting and taking notes. The entire event, and especially the Trick-Or-Treat Trail are just fantastic.
For a full walkthrough of the event be sure to take a look at the video we posted live to Facebook below:
Into The Fog
Knott’s has also created a little Haunt store and art gallery near Bear-y Tales and the Charles Schulz Theater in the back of Cordy’s Corner shop. Much of the merchandise is from the 2019 Haunt event, but there is a whole wall of original art from a variety of local artists. It’s well worth your time to check it out.
The pop-up shop in the back of the store is called “Into the Fog.” The scarecrow with projection face from the Pumpkin Eater maze welcomes guests with custom audio for the store.
A wall of artwork stretches along one whole side of the store. It has a Haunted Mansion flair to it.
All the artwork is for sale. The Sarah Marshall (who becomes the Green Witch) is dipcted in lenticular so you can actually see her transform in the artwork.
The store also has shirts, face coverings, pins, and more.
There’s a tribute to Knott’s Haunt staff in the store as well. Nice touch!
Ready to Feast?
And now for the good stuff: the food! I’ve been a vocal fan of Knott’s food selections throughout their various festivals over the years, and it’s no surprise that this event offers some great options. Since admission includes your food, you’ve got to be sure to make the most of it. Across 28 booths around the park, there is an abundance of delicious food. Where Knott’s really shines is their twist on traditional fairground foods. So, if it’s deep-fried, you know it’ll be good! But in case you’re looking for something on the lighter side (my question to you is why?! You’re at Knott’s, live it up!) there are options for you too. Here are some of the selections we tried on our visit. We are already planning a return trip to try a long list of items that caught our eye.
I apologize in advance for this, but allow me to introduce you to your waistline’s greatest enemy this fall: The Ghoulish Pumpkin, a deep-fried cinnamon roll with pumpkin icing. Just thinking about it has got me salivating. A rich icing enrobes a crunchy exterior while the inside is gooey and perfectly delightful. If there’s one thing you try at Taste of Fall-O-Ween, I implore you to choose this one!
This was just a handful of the options available. While many of the food booths offer duplicate options around the park, it helps to cut down the lines for popular items. To see the full lineup of foods, take a look at the article below.
Knott’s Bear-y Tales
While Knott’s was unable to unveil their upcoming attraction Knott’s Bear-y Tales this year as planned, the attraction is still getting visual updates. Since our last visit, this new fandangled contraption has been installed atop the attraction sign. According to Knott’s, “this gadget pumps and brews the boysenberry goodness into the factory to make [the Knott’s Bear-y Bear’s] famous pies. It’s cute, isn’t it?
Knott’s recently shared what the blasters will look like for the attraction, and they’re adorable.
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Let’s Hear From You
Did you take the virtual walkthrough with Dusty above? What do you think? We were absolutely blown away and didn’t want the day to end. But it sure has us wondering why Disney isn’t also offering something in the parks right now. Even if just shopping and dining on Main Street and Buena Vista Street. There’s something really comforting about being able to visit the theme parks, even without the rides.
Happy Halloween season everyone.
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