From ‘Ghost Town Alive!' to ‘Summer Nights' band performances, season of easy living opens at Knott's

Los Angeles Times

18-06-2025

Summer at Knott's is here with Wild West-themed character interactions, nightly live music and lots of dancing.
Ghost Town Alive! runs during the day — culminating with a family-friendly, dance-filled hoedown full of step-heeling and grape-vining through Calico Park. Meanwhile, Knott's Summer Nights livens up the evening and night with bands and performers at multiple stages throughout the park. The two summer events launched June 13 and run through Sept. 1.
'Summer Nights has been entertaining our guests since 2019 and since then we've seen the [evolution] of new bands, new music and of course great fun for all of our guests,' said producer Christopher Do. 'Ghost Town Alive has been running since 2016, the 75th anniversary of Ghost Town. Some of the citizens have changed throughout the years as a new storyline is presented with each subsequent year.'
Do said guests can expect a mix of new and returning live music for this year's Knott's Summer Nights.
'We're excited to introduce some new bands to the mix,' he said. '90s Rockshow was a guest favorite last year and this year guests can find them at the Calico Mine Stage. Also joining this year at the Calico Mine Stage is Midnight Regret playing some familiar top '40s hits. At the Calico Park stage, we are welcoming a few new bands: the Ritchie Hummins Band, Tommy Drinkard & the Remedy as well as some returning favorites like Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five, and Stone Soul.'
There are also some fun returning games including Fla-ringo, Cornhole and Zing That Ring — a habit-forming hook-and-ring game located on the outskirts of the Calico Mine Stage. Also at the Calico Mine Stage, Do said, they are introducing some new pay-to-play games with special prizes developed by the Knott's Games department.
In addition to the big hoedown, Ghost Town Alive! also features a whole Ghost Town full of characters and activities — from the fire wagon coming through with some water misting to interactions in the dress shop and visits to The Old School House. Characters may elicit the help of guests in secret missions and puzzle-solving.
'The puzzles and immersive elements of Ghost Town Alive! are designed to appeal to every level of guest — from the casual observer to the deep diver or returning guest,' Do said. 'Often, our citizens may use puzzles to help deepen the experience of any one of our guests.'
Show Director Rovin Dickinson said acting in Ghost Town Alive! is different from other forms of performing in that it requires making the guest the star in their story and sometimes the focus of attention — the role usually reserved for the actor.
'Each guest is different, and every interaction unique. For the performer, it may be challenging at times to be the supporting role in several different experiences at once,' Dickinson said. 'Our citizens are great at meeting our guests where they are at, encouraging them to engage as much or as little as they desire. It's sometimes as simple and as a quick question of what they're doing or if they can help with a task to get them engulfed into the story.'
Of course, as with other big seasonal events at Knott's, food is a big part of the fun.
Director of Food and Beverage Wilf Seymour said 40 new menu items were added in time for their Flavors of Summer.
'This summer, we will be trying out some new summer favorites with a Knott's twist. Blue Bunny is our ice cream supplier, and our pastry chef took inspiration from the strawberry shortcake bar and turned it into a new dessert called the strawberry crunch bar,' he said. 'We serve a lot of elotes during the summer, so we've decided to include it as a topping on our new summer pizza — the delicious roasted elote and chicken pizza with chipotle mayo.'
They've also added kimchi crab tots — tater tots tossed in Cajun seasoning topped with imitation crab meat, kimchi, spicy mayo and green onions.
'Fresh berries are always popular during the summer. We have topped our fresh funnel cakes with lots of fresh berries for the new berry bliss funnel cake found at Sutter's Funnel Cake,' Seymour said. 'We have some great new beverages coming for the summer, like the juicy pale ale. We also have some great Italian sodas at Prop Shop Pizzeria.'
Another intriguing new item is the grilled pineapple beef burger.
'The grilled pineapple beef burger was based on a Hawaiian grill idea we were playing with,' he said. 'We wanted to make pineapple chicken, and then we tried a teriyaki beef dish that we had planned to do at Boardwalk. However, we needed a signature burger for the summer, and this led us down the path of experimenting with these ideas on a burger.'
The Tajin funnel cake was also a bit of inspired experimentation.
'We love to experiment with different combinations for our funnel cakes here, and the inspiration for the mango soft serve and Tajin funnel cake came from a mangonada, as well as a spicy funnel cake we served last year,' he said. 'We wanted to pair these two flavors together.'
Seymour said the summer menu is a 'fun creation' and captures many of the summer flavors that guests enjoy.
'We have had the opportunity to taste everything a few times and make some adjustments that make the menu items fit nicely into our theme park world,' he said.