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Knotts Berry Farm kicked off the holiday weekend with its unofficial start to its summer with the return of Ghost Town Alive! and Knott’s Summer Nights. Both events have proven to be popular with Knotts visitors year after year and their return usually brings in the summer crowds that stick around all summer long till these events come to an end at the beginning of September.
If you plan on attending Ghost Town Alive!, start your day early at Knott’s Berry Farm. The daytime experience begins at the park opening and concludes at the center of the park with a hoedown to culminate the experience held at 5:30 pm daily.
The immersive experience that runs throughout Calico Park is a mixture of immersive storytelling and character interactions that encourage you as the park guest to play a part in the larger story being told. The story being told is an exciting election, for the new mayor of Calico.
If you are coming to this interactive experience at any point on your next visit, a good reason to come earlier in the day is to involve one’s self in the ongoings of Ghost Town. You’ll want to stick around town longer than you planned, once you get involved in the larger story. Each character you interact with, and each establishment you visit in Ghost Town is an opportunity to interact with the characters who make up the town of Calico and with the townsfolk who run the town.
This experience is great for kids of all ages. You could find yourself at a Town Hall meeting with the mayoral candidates, which could include the town sheriff, the town outlaw, or even the town lawyer. If you visit the Post Office you could meet with the Post Master who might ask you for your help in delivering a few packages while you’re “visiting” in town.
You might even cross paths with the Town Sheriff who might deputize you to help arrest a couple of outlaws and then walk with a posse to take those outlaws to jail.
All of this concludes with a hoedown hosted by the townsfolk of Calico on the stage at Calico Park, where the new mayor is elected and you’re invited to a dance to celebrate the occasion.
So be prepared to experience the best immersive experience you didn’t think needed but is just what you’ve been looking for all along when you inevitably visit! this summer. Get ready to have fun, get involved in frontier living, and learn a thing or two about surviving in the Old West.
During the evening is the start of the nightly programming that makes up Summer Nights. The summertime party that occurs nightly is an invitation to party at Knott’s Berry Farm all summer long. If you are looking to unwind after a fun-filled day or are ready to dance the night away with music offerings throughout the park or even are looking to complement either one of those experiences with a taste of some summer food, then prepare to head over to Summer Nights for this one of a kind party experience.
If you are planning to enjoy live music as a part of the festivities keep in mind that there is an expansion of music offerings this year that reach as far as the New Fiesta Village at the Fiesta Village stage. With an option to travel further out into the park for music offerings, this is another experience that we would encourage you to come earlier. In Fiesta Village you’ll find music with a Latin flair, then hop over to the Midway you’ll find some Beach Boys-inspired tunes being played live on the patio of the Boardwalk Bbq.
The midway of the park is where you’ll find the most familiar sounds of the summer, with rock-inspired music being played on the Calico stage just beyond the main stage which then features music from rock to pop all sorts of offerings in between. With either of these stages being on the midway, or the center of the park it is best to arrive early for the picnic-style seating in front of the stages, this set up encourages visitors to enjoy the food offerings that make up the festivities offerings of the “A Taste of Summer”. All this staging of the event and more make for a feeling that you never left town for a summer party or a bbq you might have in your backyard.
If playing games out on the lawn or in the backyard is what makes for those memorable summer nights for you then be sure to visit the game opportunities along the midway. With simple summer games that are fun for all ages and most summer occasions, you are sure to find a game that suits your level of fun best.
Take the time on your next visit to stop for a stroll along the midway for some classic summer fun, that you can just take in and enjoy without having to think twice if the experience will be too thrilling for your taste. If you look up on one of the roofs just beyond Charleston Circle, you’ll find a DJ there playing some of the best family-friendly club music that all ages can dance along to. All this and more can be your experience at Knott’s Summer Nights.