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Date: 11/20/2019
AGAWAM – Thanksgiving is still around the corner, but Six Flags New England is already in Christmas mode preparing for their annual Holiday in the Park celebration.
Communications Manager for Six Flags New England, Jennifer McGrath, said while the event is not new to Six Flags as a whole, the New England park started doing it about three years ago.
“We have several Six Flags properties that celebrated for quite some time in Texas, Georgia,” she told Reminder Publishing. “We started assessing the weather, and we realized New Englanders are hearty.
“We really took that into account and started realizing guests are wanting to come out and see the display,” she said. In the two years the event has taken place so far, McGrath said it has grown and “surpassed expectations” and “guests are loving it.”
In addition to attendance of the event growing each year, the attractions and number of lights displayed at the park has also grown. McGrath said in addition to “always adding more lights,” guests can also expect scented areas in the park to continue this year as well.
The scented areas in the park, she said, have been a guest favorite each year. McGrath noted the “multi-sensory experience” allows guests to be “immersed” in different holiday-related scents such as evergreen or peppermint “in different zones” of the park.
Another new attraction this year is a “massive, large display” McGrath said, which is a “present standing over a story tall.” She said this year the park also “focused on culinary experience.” Instead of the traditional amusement park hot dog, this year the park will be offering a prime rib and turkey dinner.
She explained the park added these dinners to “be more immersive and capture the holiday feelings.”
In addition to providing holiday fun and traditions for families around New England, Six Flags also uses Holiday in the Park to partner with local organizations and give back to the community. This year the park is hosting several drives that will collect items for those in need and offer guests discounted, or free access to the park.
The first drive is a toy drive to benefit the YMCA of Greater Springfield taking place opening weekend, Nov. 23 and 24. She said each person who brings “a new, unwrapped gift valued at $25 or more” will get free entry to the park. Gift suggestions include board games and sports stuff for children ages two to 18-years-old. “A lot of these families have teens or young adults in their homes so they may want a video game or something like that,” McGrath told Reminder Publishing.
On Dec. 1, Six Flags will continue the season of giving with a coat drive for Square One. McGrath said anyone who brings a new, unused coat to the park that day will get in for free.
She said, “We did the coat drive before and collected more than 300, we’re hoping to beat that.” Coats can be for children “as young as infant” or “as old as young adult.”
Finally, the park will be hosting their Winter Solstice Sock Drive, which will benefit the Springfield Rescue Mission and homeless in the area. This event will take place on Dec. 21, which is both the first day of winter and homeless remembrance day. Anyone who brings a package of new, unused socks to the park that day will get entrance for a discounted price of $20.90.
However, she said they don’t want to collect “thin, cheap socks.” They’re encouraging guests who want to donate to buy “thick, warm winter socks” such as wool socks. The socks, she said, will go “directly to someone living on the streets in Western Massachusetts.”
She said events like the toy, coat and sock drive give guests “a lot of opportunities to save money while helping local organizations.”
Other exciting events offered throughout the event will include horse and wagon rides on the weekend of Nov. 23 and 24. McGrath said the park has partnered with a farm in Ludlow to offer guests rides in an 18-passenger vehicle drawn by two clydesdale horses for a small fee. While the price has not yet been determined, McGrath said it will be “very affordable.”
The park is also bringing back their Ice Fest, which is a two-day event with an ice bar, holiday spirits and cocktails. McGrath said the event is “skewed a little bit more toward the 21 to 40 range,” and has a “cocktail party feel.” She said the “adult level fun experience” is a “magical display of ice.”
Those wanting more information on events and ticket prices can go to the Holiday in the Parks website at https://www.sixflags.com/newengland/special-events/holiday-in-the-park-event.