Fort Adams has announced that their annual fall event and fundraiser, Fortress of Nightmares, held Fridays and Saturdays from October 13th through October 28th had a record attendance over prior years of almost 4,000 attendees.
This season’s production marked the thirteenth season in a row for the festivities. Fortress of Nightmares is a haunted attraction featuring Tunnels of Terror, Mayhem3D and this year’s brand new Paranormal360 attraction featuring virtual reality headgear. Blackstone Caterer’s A Fork in the Road food truck was there for refreshments and freshly cooked meals.
Overall attendance for the six days of events was 44% greater than last year’s attendance. To put on and construct the events, Fortress of Nightmares relies heavily on volunteers and this year over 500 volunteer hours were provided from over 100individuals. All internet traffic and ticket purchases were supported with a highly targeted integrated marketing communications effort consisting of: print & radio buys, promotional announcements & contests, press coverage, outdoor advertising, Groupon discounts and a strategically focused Google Adwords buy. Overall record metrics were set in all critical measurement categories.
“Fortress of Nightmares is a challenge to produce; however, each year we are adding new elements to the experience and constantly improving it as we accomplished with the virtual reality Paranormal360 attraction, the only one in the area,” stated Dave Prata, lead creative director for the event, in a news release. “We strategically shifted this year’s events to extend them over three weekends rather than two and eliminated Sundays resulting in many more options for attendees to choose from. We are already starting to work on next year’s production, and are planning to attend the Haunted Attraction Associations annual trade-show in 2018” Prata added.
“We made significant changes to the marketing efforts for this year by utilizing much more internet based advertising and harnessing greater search engine optimization to drive traffic and ticket sales,“ commented Sandy Kristiansson of Black Diamond Marketing Group and chair of the Fort Adams Trust’s marketing committee in the release. “By doing so, while also mixing up our traditional print and radio buys, we created a broader reach to new target audiences with extremely positive results,” Kristiansson further offered.
About the Fort Adams Trust:
The Fort Adams Trust is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit responsible for preservation, programming, and promoting the National Historic Landmarks in Fort Adams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island. Over 100,000 people tour the Fort and attend events in the Park annually. The Trust accepts donations to support its preservation and programming missions. http://www.FortAdams.org