THESE ARE the men who are scaring the life out of visitors in the North East this autumn – and boosting the economy at the same time.
Nigel Holliday, Matt Smyth, Christiano Crawford, Richard Tulip and Stephen Tulip are the brains behind the region’s biggest scream park, Psycho Path presents Fearground, which is held at Lintz Hall Farm, near Burnopfield.
And the team have invested more than £1m in the venture, with this year’s event, which is four times bigger than last October’s sold-out Psycho Path, creating more than 250 jobs.
Co-founders of Newcastle nightclub, Tup Tup Palace, Nigel Holliday and Matt Smyth organise a range of events around the UK and beyond, including food and drink markets, pop-up structures and music festivals.
They joined forces with North East marketing expert, Christiano Crawford, who wanted to recreate the high end Halloween experiences he had seen in the US.
The group all knew Richard Tulip, a former DJ who is also the fourth generation of poultry farmers at Lintz Hall Farm, who agreed to become part of the team, along with his brother, Steven.
“The collaboration works so well because we have such a diverse range of skills and experience between the five of us,” said Matt.
“We all love a challenge and always aim high so with the success of last year’s event, the next step was to bring it back even bigger and better this year and create the largest scream park in the North East.
“We’re currently working non-stop on the site build to make sure Fearground exceeds all of our expectations and we can’t wait to see how visitors react in October.”
Psycho Path presents Fearground takes place on selected nights from 11 to 31 October, offering four experiences.
They include Anarchy Arcade which will offer live entertainment and a range of food and drink offerings and a new addition – iScream – where visitors will have to navigate a terrifying maze and come face to face with a range of horrific characters.
Blacked out vans are back to transport anyone brave enough to try Psycho Path’s new route, which then leads into Psycho City – the final new attraction – set in a post-apocalyptic, junkyard-inspired environment.
Tickets for Psycho Path start at £25 and those aged 13 to 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
For more information or to buy tickets for the event, visit www.psycho-path.co.uk.
Along with the evening trail, Psycho Path has partnered with Metro Radio and Gateshead College to host the Family Fright Fest, a separate event taking place from 11am to 4:30pm, including pumpkin carving, spooky stories, stage shows, a fun scare maze and prizes, suitable for children of all ages.
The Family Frightfest takes place on 19, 20, 26, 27 and 31 October and tickets are priced at £7 for children, £10 for adults and a family pass for two children and two adults is also available, costing £29.
To find out more, or to purchase tickets, visit www.familyfrightfestuk.co.uk.