Broadwitch Hauntfest 2019
Following a fairly static year in 2018, we were disappointed, when we first heard that the line up for this year's Broadwitch Hauntfest would remain the same, with nothing new being added. Having said that - we always have a great time at the event, so headed along for the night anyway. And we are glad we did!
Despite a few cosmetic changes (mainly noticeable in MassAcre with the piled up cars and kitchen appliance everywhere) the main mazes all remained the same, but were brought to life by a very talented and lively bunch of actors. All the mazes seemed to be overpopulated with creatures, and the scares came thick and fast from all angles. Compared to some other large scream parks, we love that the inhabitants of each maze all have their own voices and characters are aren't just all making the same guttural sound.
Of course, Broadwitch is famed for its incredible make up and set and costume design, and this year was no exception. The sheer breadth of characters and styles is quite impressive and really helps to differentiate the attractions from each other. There are then of course, the incredible street team who always give us hell, but were actually on the best behaviour (they were strictly warned not to cover us in shaving foam again like last year!) All of them are hysterical in their delivery and are so unique that we just wanted to stand and interact with them all night.
The final thing we have to mention is that Biometrix has really got its Mojo back. When this maze first opened, it was famed for its intense hands on approach to scaring people, but over recent years the scares seemed to have been toned down. Well not this year. We were grabbed, pushed, dragged and separated throughout the maze, and at the end - two of the group got dragged back into the darkness from the main event arena. It's hard to believe just how extreme this event is after the strict no-touch rule of the other four mazes, and we love that it has returned to the level it was at when it first opened.
All in - we are starting to sound like a broken record when it comes to Broadwitch Hauntfest. The mazes and sets are all top notch (the attention to detail in Spooky Castle always blows us away), the costume and make up are always spot on and the actors both in the mazes and roaming outside, are some of the most enthusiastic we see all year. Being a family run attraction and business, it is clear that the team are passionate about providing a top quality experience, and as we have said already - we never fail to have a good time. So despite the lack of anything new - we still thoroughly enjoyed our visit, and cant wait to see what 2020 holds.
Despite a few cosmetic changes (mainly noticeable in MassAcre with the piled up cars and kitchen appliance everywhere) the main mazes all remained the same, but were brought to life by a very talented and lively bunch of actors. All the mazes seemed to be overpopulated with creatures, and the scares came thick and fast from all angles. Compared to some other large scream parks, we love that the inhabitants of each maze all have their own voices and characters are aren't just all making the same guttural sound.
Of course, Broadwitch is famed for its incredible make up and set and costume design, and this year was no exception. The sheer breadth of characters and styles is quite impressive and really helps to differentiate the attractions from each other. There are then of course, the incredible street team who always give us hell, but were actually on the best behaviour (they were strictly warned not to cover us in shaving foam again like last year!) All of them are hysterical in their delivery and are so unique that we just wanted to stand and interact with them all night.
The final thing we have to mention is that Biometrix has really got its Mojo back. When this maze first opened, it was famed for its intense hands on approach to scaring people, but over recent years the scares seemed to have been toned down. Well not this year. We were grabbed, pushed, dragged and separated throughout the maze, and at the end - two of the group got dragged back into the darkness from the main event arena. It's hard to believe just how extreme this event is after the strict no-touch rule of the other four mazes, and we love that it has returned to the level it was at when it first opened.
All in - we are starting to sound like a broken record when it comes to Broadwitch Hauntfest. The mazes and sets are all top notch (the attention to detail in Spooky Castle always blows us away), the costume and make up are always spot on and the actors both in the mazes and roaming outside, are some of the most enthusiastic we see all year. Being a family run attraction and business, it is clear that the team are passionate about providing a top quality experience, and as we have said already - we never fail to have a good time. So despite the lack of anything new - we still thoroughly enjoyed our visit, and cant wait to see what 2020 holds.
Broadwitch Hauntfest 2018
Even though the scare attraction landscape keeps getting bigger each year, there is one event that we have never left off our itinerary - Broadwitch Hauntfest. That is because we never fail to have a good time whilst at the event - the staff are welcoming; the roaming characters are persistent, and all the mazes are of a high standard. And this year was no exception.
We started with the outdoor maze, Mass-acre first and the dark maize sections and the structures we passed through provided perfect opportunities for the actors to scare us. And scare us they did - the maze has some great set pieces and clearly the cast were having fun throughout.
Thirteen Freaks has developed and grown over the years to become more of a carnival/freakshow theme but returned in 2018, virtually untouched. That’s not a bad thing though as the maze is great fun and the actors were all lively and we had some very good scares throughout the attraction.
Edge also remains unchanged for 2018 - with very lively vampires hunting us through the darkness and elaborate sets. It’s a great attraction and always provides us with some fun scares.
When Biometrix first crashed onto the scene it really stood out as something different and innovative. The attraction was fast paced and involved physical contact usually not allowed at Broadwitch. But over the years, the shock value of the touching was diminished, so last year the attraction was rethemed to Biometrix Zero. Following this - the show has now been expanded to include two levels which create a feeling of size and grandeur. Although it we found there to be a few dead spaces with not a lot happening, but when the actors attacked they were still very much hands on compared to the other attractions.
Our final maze was the beautiful Spooky Castle, which has been the mainstay of the event, but gets a radical changeover each year. This year’s transformation is so vast that we are effectively going to consider it a new maze for 2018. The castle has always been set in an undefinable historic period but this year, but we definitely got a 1940s WW2 vibe from some of the scenes (especially the large unexploded bomb in the finale). Although this scene was beautifully decorated, we were expecting something to leave us running out the door in fright, but it seemed the majority of the scares had been reserved for inside the castle itself. And what scares they were - the actors chased, screamed growled and pounced at us throughout. We had a scarily fun time and Spooky Castle was easily our favourite maze of the night.
Outside of the mazes, were of course the legendary roaming characters. Fortunately, we weren’t covered in shaving foam this time, but the cast picked on us (and indeed all guests) mercilessly. There really is no theme to the roaming characters and that’s what we love about them – you can go from a drag queen Ronald McDonald through to an evil Santa. The characters are fun, filthy and in some cases even flirtatious. We could spend all night just watching them interact with people!
So, once again we had a brilliant night at Broadwitch. We have said this multiple time before but Broadwitch is often overlooked by people enticed by the shinier promotion and marketing of other scream parks, but this is a massive mistake. The design quality in all their attractions are stunning and their actors and cast are all . We have NEVER had a bad night here and we have been visiting for years. Our visit on next year’s itinerary has already been assured!
We started with the outdoor maze, Mass-acre first and the dark maize sections and the structures we passed through provided perfect opportunities for the actors to scare us. And scare us they did - the maze has some great set pieces and clearly the cast were having fun throughout.
Thirteen Freaks has developed and grown over the years to become more of a carnival/freakshow theme but returned in 2018, virtually untouched. That’s not a bad thing though as the maze is great fun and the actors were all lively and we had some very good scares throughout the attraction.
Edge also remains unchanged for 2018 - with very lively vampires hunting us through the darkness and elaborate sets. It’s a great attraction and always provides us with some fun scares.
When Biometrix first crashed onto the scene it really stood out as something different and innovative. The attraction was fast paced and involved physical contact usually not allowed at Broadwitch. But over the years, the shock value of the touching was diminished, so last year the attraction was rethemed to Biometrix Zero. Following this - the show has now been expanded to include two levels which create a feeling of size and grandeur. Although it we found there to be a few dead spaces with not a lot happening, but when the actors attacked they were still very much hands on compared to the other attractions.
Our final maze was the beautiful Spooky Castle, which has been the mainstay of the event, but gets a radical changeover each year. This year’s transformation is so vast that we are effectively going to consider it a new maze for 2018. The castle has always been set in an undefinable historic period but this year, but we definitely got a 1940s WW2 vibe from some of the scenes (especially the large unexploded bomb in the finale). Although this scene was beautifully decorated, we were expecting something to leave us running out the door in fright, but it seemed the majority of the scares had been reserved for inside the castle itself. And what scares they were - the actors chased, screamed growled and pounced at us throughout. We had a scarily fun time and Spooky Castle was easily our favourite maze of the night.
Outside of the mazes, were of course the legendary roaming characters. Fortunately, we weren’t covered in shaving foam this time, but the cast picked on us (and indeed all guests) mercilessly. There really is no theme to the roaming characters and that’s what we love about them – you can go from a drag queen Ronald McDonald through to an evil Santa. The characters are fun, filthy and in some cases even flirtatious. We could spend all night just watching them interact with people!
So, once again we had a brilliant night at Broadwitch. We have said this multiple time before but Broadwitch is often overlooked by people enticed by the shinier promotion and marketing of other scream parks, but this is a massive mistake. The design quality in all their attractions are stunning and their actors and cast are all . We have NEVER had a bad night here and we have been visiting for years. Our visit on next year’s itinerary has already been assured!
Very scary
Amazing experience, great value for money
Amazing experience, great value for money
Broadwitch Hauntfest 2017
We have been visiting Broadwitch Hauntfest for years and it has always provided an exciting mix of scares and fun. Alongside the five main attractions, the event has an incredible team of roaming characters, that range from the freaky twins through to the annoyingly fun Beauty and the Beast (more on them later!)
The biggest change to any of the attractions is the new Sub Zero makeover to Biometrix. The attraction has always been the most extreme at the event and is the only one where the actors are actually allowed to touch guests. The change to Sub Zero was pretty much just a repaint of the existing attraction but the whole attraction remained as chaotic as previous. Interestingly the "panic buttons" weren't referenced in the intro, but of course we pressed every one just to create more noise and flashing lights throughout!
Next to Biometrix stands the event's signature maze - The Spooky Castle. This has been at the farm since the start, but as it gets rebuilt each year, it always manages to provides us with new scares each time. It's hard for us to pinpoint any one thing in particular but this year the Spooky Castle was stunningly scary and had us jumping and screaming throughout. The theming and attention to detail were top notch and all the actors were giving their all. We had so many scares that we ended up declaring this our favourite maze of the night!
Thirteen, the maze built around superstitions, has also had a makeover this year, as the clowns have taken control, turning it into Thirteen Freaks. We didn't actually count if there were 13 as we were too busy jumping and screaming as they attacked us from all sides. There certainly seemed to be more than advertised! They also seemed to genuinely be having fun tormenting us and, we laughed as much as we jumped. Also compared to the slightly random nature of the different superstition themes in the past, the new story is more cohesive and the whole attraction worked better as one clown themed maze.
Massacre always gives us plenty of fun scares and this year was no different. The combination of rough structures, lively actors and the feeling of walking through a real cornfield all combined to create a fun experience. We also loved the fact we could hear the screams of other groups around us and we were never quite sure what we were walking into round the next corner.
The final maze is The Edge - a dark and atmospheric take on vampires which managed to scare us multiple times in its small layout. Despite sitting right in the middle of the event arena, the maze always seems longer once inside, and with the detailed theming and lively actors, gave us some great scares.
As we mentioned at the start, the street team were as manic as ever and even managed to foam pie us twice during the event (see the pics below). We think we may have been singled out as we were VIP guests of the event (is that any way to repay the people who awarded you a SCAR award?) but it was hilarious and shocking in equal measures!. Thankfully it was just baby powder and shaving foam - we smelt lovely for the rest of the weekend!
The biggest change to any of the attractions is the new Sub Zero makeover to Biometrix. The attraction has always been the most extreme at the event and is the only one where the actors are actually allowed to touch guests. The change to Sub Zero was pretty much just a repaint of the existing attraction but the whole attraction remained as chaotic as previous. Interestingly the "panic buttons" weren't referenced in the intro, but of course we pressed every one just to create more noise and flashing lights throughout!
Next to Biometrix stands the event's signature maze - The Spooky Castle. This has been at the farm since the start, but as it gets rebuilt each year, it always manages to provides us with new scares each time. It's hard for us to pinpoint any one thing in particular but this year the Spooky Castle was stunningly scary and had us jumping and screaming throughout. The theming and attention to detail were top notch and all the actors were giving their all. We had so many scares that we ended up declaring this our favourite maze of the night!
Thirteen, the maze built around superstitions, has also had a makeover this year, as the clowns have taken control, turning it into Thirteen Freaks. We didn't actually count if there were 13 as we were too busy jumping and screaming as they attacked us from all sides. There certainly seemed to be more than advertised! They also seemed to genuinely be having fun tormenting us and, we laughed as much as we jumped. Also compared to the slightly random nature of the different superstition themes in the past, the new story is more cohesive and the whole attraction worked better as one clown themed maze.
Massacre always gives us plenty of fun scares and this year was no different. The combination of rough structures, lively actors and the feeling of walking through a real cornfield all combined to create a fun experience. We also loved the fact we could hear the screams of other groups around us and we were never quite sure what we were walking into round the next corner.
The final maze is The Edge - a dark and atmospheric take on vampires which managed to scare us multiple times in its small layout. Despite sitting right in the middle of the event arena, the maze always seems longer once inside, and with the detailed theming and lively actors, gave us some great scares.
As we mentioned at the start, the street team were as manic as ever and even managed to foam pie us twice during the event (see the pics below). We think we may have been singled out as we were VIP guests of the event (is that any way to repay the people who awarded you a SCAR award?) but it was hilarious and shocking in equal measures!. Thankfully it was just baby powder and shaving foam - we smelt lovely for the rest of the weekend!
Terrifying
Amazing from start to finish ,
simply best hauntfest NATIONALLY by far !!! *****
From actors to venue ,security ,parking and catering - Fantastic family event !!!!!!
Spooky castle best attraction
5 star
Scare rating *****
Amazing from start to finish ,
simply best hauntfest NATIONALLY by far !!! *****
From actors to venue ,security ,parking and catering - Fantastic family event !!!!!!
Spooky castle best attraction
5 star
Scare rating *****
Broadwitch Hauntfest 2016
Broadwitch Hauntfest has always been one of our favourite UK events due to its mix of highly themed and detailed mazes, alongside crazy roaming characters. There are no new mazes for this year, but Th13teen has seen a complete revamp and of course Spooky Castle has had its annual makeover.
The Edge was new last year and is once again home to a nest of vampires. All throughout this maze, there is some very impressive theming and the vampires all seemed to be having fun at our expense throughout. The maze also had a mix of comedy - especially with the coffin maker who was determined to measure us up for our own personal coffin.
MassAcre is the park’s maize maze experience and once again the path through they corm is augmented by structures and tunnels. From fire effect cannons through to a chainsaw chase finale, all the actors in this maize were extremely lively and we had a number of good scares throughout.
Biometrix was designed as an antithesis to the other Broadwitch Hauntfest mazes, as it was the only one that would allow touching. Since it first opened 3 years ago, it has always been a chaotic experience, but word had reached us that this year the maze had been toned down. Fortunately this turned out just to be a bad rumour as on our run through we had an intense experience with the actors attacking us from all angles.
Spooky Castle is the parks signature attraction and continues to be one of the best decorated houses we see each Halloween. The attention to detail in the winding corridors are second to none and the maze is a great mix of old school scares, some unique animatronics (that ceiling gets us every time) and some lively and vocal actors.
Th13teen has seen the most change of all the attractions with whole sections (such as the crashing aeroplane) now replaced by other impressive set-pieces. We loved the new underground train and the way that the scenes celebrating phobias and fears have all been switched around in the experience. Sadly – compared to the crazy plane finale, the ending wasn’t quite as chaotic, but the rest of the maze was really strong, especially the new underground section which the team had to dig out just to fit their vortex tunnel in.
Outside of the mazes, the roaming characters were once again having a blast, but we have to shout out to Punch and Judy – a comedy coupling so mischievous and relentless that one of the team ended up being chased all the way back to the car park to avoid being splattered in tomato ketchup. When they did finally catch him, he got punished for wearing a hoodie from a rival attraction!
All in – a fantastic night at Broadwitch – but then after visiting every year, we have come to expect nothing less!
The Edge was new last year and is once again home to a nest of vampires. All throughout this maze, there is some very impressive theming and the vampires all seemed to be having fun at our expense throughout. The maze also had a mix of comedy - especially with the coffin maker who was determined to measure us up for our own personal coffin.
MassAcre is the park’s maize maze experience and once again the path through they corm is augmented by structures and tunnels. From fire effect cannons through to a chainsaw chase finale, all the actors in this maize were extremely lively and we had a number of good scares throughout.
Biometrix was designed as an antithesis to the other Broadwitch Hauntfest mazes, as it was the only one that would allow touching. Since it first opened 3 years ago, it has always been a chaotic experience, but word had reached us that this year the maze had been toned down. Fortunately this turned out just to be a bad rumour as on our run through we had an intense experience with the actors attacking us from all angles.
Spooky Castle is the parks signature attraction and continues to be one of the best decorated houses we see each Halloween. The attention to detail in the winding corridors are second to none and the maze is a great mix of old school scares, some unique animatronics (that ceiling gets us every time) and some lively and vocal actors.
Th13teen has seen the most change of all the attractions with whole sections (such as the crashing aeroplane) now replaced by other impressive set-pieces. We loved the new underground train and the way that the scenes celebrating phobias and fears have all been switched around in the experience. Sadly – compared to the crazy plane finale, the ending wasn’t quite as chaotic, but the rest of the maze was really strong, especially the new underground section which the team had to dig out just to fit their vortex tunnel in.
Outside of the mazes, the roaming characters were once again having a blast, but we have to shout out to Punch and Judy – a comedy coupling so mischievous and relentless that one of the team ended up being chased all the way back to the car park to avoid being splattered in tomato ketchup. When they did finally catch him, he got punished for wearing a hoodie from a rival attraction!
All in – a fantastic night at Broadwitch – but then after visiting every year, we have come to expect nothing less!
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