Out of this World v Fright Night.

[escort1 10]

What do people think?, is the new event as good as Fright Night, better, worse?

[bassett one 450]

40 thousand footfall expected,how many came?,weather top class lots of advertising

and supposed to be better so that's youre answer,they changed the Sheffield fayre that did not work with low footfall,footfall tells you the answer,hope it worked ,but I would never change a winning formula.

[stormvixen 10]

All reports I had back told me it was pretty dire. And the council were using the hashtag #ootw2014 which suggests they want to make it regular. They're going to have to do a LOT to make it a) as successful as Fright Night and b) not get done under trade descriptions, as three tables does not a convention make

[Cushty 10]

I feel pretty bad for this post, as some people were clearly trying really hard to make it good for the kids and it was "free", but this event really was pretty dire.

 

The kids' rides that are in the city centre for every event were present and correct (and where you always expect to find them) and they made up the vast majority of things to do to be honest. There was a radio station (Heart FM?), doing various things to keep the kids entertained, free face-painting, free sweets, what-have-you. I've never heard of them before but they were certainly one of the highlights.

 

The idea for themed zones was a good idea but poorly implemented. It was all a bit random (i.e. the robot was in the "horror zone", and the magic tents were everywhere. The "magic zone" just had rides as far as I could see). There was a big-empty tent that said "Sci-Fi Zone" in big letters, which was fenced off.

 

If you hadn't seen a map you probably wouldn't know it was zoned to be honest, I think there was the bare minimum of effort by some of those charged with operating each zone. The Sci-Fi/Comic Book Zone looked massive on the map, but in reality it was one guy dressed as Spiderman and another dressed as Iron Man in a corner of Winter Gardens (that pretty much describes the entire "Sci-Fi and Comic Book Zone"!)

 

It sometimes felt like other conventions doing the bare minimum while advertising their own convention. The advert on the website (and the reason I was dragged along by the kids) was very heavily Doctor Who themed, even with a picture of a Tardis on the front. We walked around twice and didn't see anything Dr Who related, we asked someone in the Sci-Fi zone and they said the reason Doctor Who was advertised is because two of the actors who play Doctor Who were appearing in Doncaster, next year. Which totally makes sense (not). The "Game Zone" was 3 Xbox 360s running very old games (nobody was even bothering to stop to use them).

 

The kids weren't very happy at first, and I did feel we'd been "dragged there" (I use the term lightly!) under false pretences, but we made the best of it and made use of the fairgrounds rides (which at least you could just walk up and use, one big positive. The last Fright Night was horrendously overcrowded, with 30 minute+ waits!).

 

It was a shame in many respects because some aspects were well thought out and organised, and some people were putting a lot of effort in (big props to the girls trying to organise a "Timewarp Flashdance" with about 10 people watching, and zero participating!).

 

I think it has potential. If they do it again I think they need to dump the other conventions who were doing next-to-nothing but handing out flyers for their own conventions (I get the feeling the organisers were expecting a lot more than they got from some of these. Yes, I'm looking at you sci-fi/comic book zone, 2 guys stood in costume and one bloke with a stall full of stuff that you have to go to Doncaster to buy does not make good entertainment!!).

 

Perhaps they could cut out the middle-man and book some of the acts/event companies that go to these conventions themselves? (even if its just paying for some well known sci-fi/horror memorabilia/props/characters to walk around and look at? The biggest queues, with the exception of the rides, were characters dressed up who kids could have their pictures taken with). On that note, maybe even promote the cosplay/fancy-dress scene a bit more? (prizes, etc?).

 

There is certainly potential to turn this into an annual horror/sci-fi/magic/games outdoor event weekend. Perhaps even get local businesses onboard to book acts, like Tramlines? Good idea, poorly implemented. Better luck next time? (Although I wonder if there will be a next time, there really wasn't very many people around!).

[escort1 10]

I know a few of the people on various stalls and rides and they all commented that they were disappointed with the turn out. Perhaps 4.30 was too early for the main attractions to finish as in the past fright night went on later. Also there did not seem as many people who made the effort to dress up.

[willman 10]

I can't comment on the event BUT we stayed away, the attraction of Fright Night was an evening event with lots of attractions, dressing up. The watered down event finished at the time we usually entered Sheffield, we always spent loads at the food stalls or pattisseries still open.

[NEKRO138 10]

The magicians on Fargate were great and went to the Spooky Magic Show which was good too. But apart from that, rubbish. The organisers didn't seem to understand the comic/sci-fi/horror community at all.

 

Fright Night was great.

[LOLBROO 10]

"SATAN'S GROTTO

IN THE MOOR MARKET

HALLOWEEN GAMES

CHILDREN'S CHARACTERS

CRAFT ACTIVITIES

SPIDER HUNT TRAIL"

The above is from the online map. There was very little happening actually in the market. All we saw was a stall doing supposedly scary vegetable carving. Could be called a craft activity I suppose.

Went back down again on Sunday especially to see "Titan". Asked a few people if we were in the right place (between Eyre Street and Matilda Street) but nobody could give us a definite answer. We got a lot of "that's what it says on the map)s but after Saturday's performance we tended not to believe the map. We hung around 'til 3:30 at which point we'd had enough and went home. Would we go again next year? Probably not.

It cannot be compared to Fright Night.

[whiteroses 10]

From the perspective of a parent of a very young child, I much preferred Out of This World to Fright Night.

 

Fright Night was always very crowded and, to me, had a bit of a tense atmosphere. I felt a bit vulnerable walking around Fright Night on my own with a buggy, for example, and I didn't think it was as suitable for very little children.

 

By contrast, Out of This World was much better for very little ones. Being over two days, it wasn't as congested, and it was easy to walk from one zone to another without being stuck in the crowds. We could also get on the Thomas the Tank Engine ride outside Debenhams without having to queue, which was a bonus with a grumpy toddler.

 

In terms of the attractions, I particularly liked the film and tv cars in Tudor Square, and the performances in the Peace Gardens. Titan the Robot really drew in the crowds, too.

I wasn't as keen on the sci-fi stuff in the Winter Garden, but that's not really my thing. However, the kids posing with Stormtroopers etc seemed to be having a lot of fun.

 

Out of This World felt a lot more family-friendly than Fright Night. If it stays, hopefully it'll grow in coming years, with more people getting involved - especially on the magic side. Some free outdoor magic shows would have been good, in addition to the evening shows which were on too late for very little children.

[bassett one 450]

any idea of footfall as 40 thousand were expected over 2 days,weather top class and a lot of adverts,so anything less than 30 thousand over 2 days would be not very good,lots of photos in the star,but all seem a bit short of crowds.

[tinfoilhat 11]

"SATAN'S GROTTO

IN THE MOOR MARKET

HALLOWEEN GAMES

CHILDREN'S CHARACTERS

CRAFT ACTIVITIES

SPIDER HUNT TRAIL"

The above is from the online map. There was very little happening actually in the market. All we saw was a stall doing supposedly scary vegetable carving. Could be called a craft activity I suppose.

Went back down again on Sunday especially to see "Titan". Asked a few people if we were in the right place (between Eyre Street and Matilda Street) but nobody could give us a definite answer. We got a lot of "that's what it says on the map)s but after Saturday's performance we tended not to believe the map. We hung around 'til 3:30 at which point we'd had enough and went home. Would we go again next year? Probably not.

It cannot be compared to Fright Night.

 

If titan the robot was the highlight, (I've seen it before - ok for 30 seconds then got very repetitive) I'm glad I was working!

[bassett one 450]

I take it scc did a survey and have attendance /footfall figures,does anyone know what they were,did the stalls take same amount in takings?,if not go back to fright night,but the problem is even that would have to be reserected as if you miss a year its harder to

get back on track,but they had everything going for the weather wise and advert wise.