Fiesta Shows is the largest carnival supplier in New England.
If you’ve visited a carnival in Massachusetts or New Hampshire, there’s a good chance
the midway was supplied by Fiesta.
This company now owns nearly 100 different rides and supplies midways both big an small.
I have been visiting fairs operated by them for nearly 3 decades and in this video, I’ll
explain everything you need to know if you visit one of their carnivals.
Fiesta Shows has been supplying midways across New England for nearly 90 years, as they were
founded back in 1935.
The company is based out of Seabrook, New Hampshire and they’ve provided carnivals
to over 60 different communities.
Every carnival will be different.
Ride lineups won’t be exact fair to fair or year to year.
But on the carnival and fairs page on their website, you can not only see the dates for
the upcoming carnivals, but you can also see which rides will be featured at each one.
This will help if you’re looking for a specific ride.
For most of the year, Fiesta is divided into two units.
This allows them to serve multiple fairs simultaneously.
But sometimes they put all their eggs in one basket if the carnival is large enough.
Most fairs last just 4 days and have roughly 2 dozen rides.
But a few fairs span at least 2 weeks and have double the amount of rides.
The two largest midways I’ve seen from Fiesta have been the Marshfield Fair in August and
the Topsfield Fair in early fall.
You need to visit one of these big fairs to ride the company’s largest attraction, the
Super Cyclone roller coaster.
Some fairs have free admission while others have gated admission that can cost a few dollars.
Once inside, you can either pay-per-ride or purchase an all-day wristband.
The wristbands will run you $35-$45 depending on the day, but you can save a few bucks if
you buy them in advance online.
If you pay per ride, you will be paying roughly $1 for 6.5 credits.
Rides typically cost between 25-40 credits, so you’re paying roughly $4-6 per ride.
Fiesta recently unveiled a new system where you load credits on a card.
While the self-service kiosks eliminate the ticket lines, I wish the point values matched
the old tickets.
For example, I wish the old 5 ticket rides cost 5 credits as opposed to 33 credits.
The lower numbers make it easier to keep track of how many you use.
The midways are usually plopped on old fields or parking lots, but the rides themselves
look ok.
I love how alive their carnivals become at night, as many attractions have vibrant or
flashy light packages.
This is the best time to visit one of their fairs.
The employees working the rides are pretty laid back, but those working the games are
outgoing to a fault.
Without fail, they will harass you as you walk down the midway.
I get why they do it because they literally make a living based on how many people play
their games, but it does get annoying.
Moving onto the ride lineup, Fiesta usually introduces a new ride every year or two.
They have nearly 100 rides, but typically you only see half of them on a fair circuit
in any given year.
One thing that I wish was more consistent was their policies on single riders.
There are a few rides- most notably Super Cyclone, the Ferris Wheels, and Viper that
sometimes allow single riders and other times they don’t.
This varies carnival to carnival, operator to operator, and year to year.
I rode Viper by myself in 2018 and 2021, but it was restricting single riders in 2019 and
2022.
It didn’t seem to be weather dependent either.
The company currently owns five different roller coasters.
Super Cyclone is by far the largest.
This Interpark creation has a near identical layout to the Galaxi coasters that used to
populate New England.
The first drop has some nice zip to it, but the rest of the ride consists of some relatively
mild turns and helixes.
Just remember you need to visit the largest fairs to run into this ride.
Then you have 4 smaller coasters.
You have Swamp Gator and Dragon Wagon, which are two powered coasters exclusive to kids.
Orient Express is another kiddie coaster, but this one can accommodate adults in your
want the credit.
Then Spinning Coaster is one of those highly common SBF Visa spinners and the rotation
makes the experience fun for all ages.
The company used to have both a Flitzer and a Fabbri spinning coaster, but they were removed
from the midway due to issues.
Where Fiesta Shows really shines is in the flat ride department.
I particularly love their pendulum rides.
They typically run long cycles on these attractions.
Top Gun is an ARM swinging inverting ship and it is a hangtime machine.
You severely slow down over the top and the loose restraints mean you’ll lift a good
half foot out of your seat.
Fiesta used to have a very similar ride called Sky Master.
Freak Out is a KMG frisbee that delivers a forceful cycle with some nice lifter airtime.
I have an entire review on this ride, but it delivers a better experience than similar
rides twice its size.
Zipper is a classic that has become more rare in recent years, but I love the chaos of the
flipping cages and randomized ride experience.
This ride pulls some bizarre forces as you dive towards the ground and sky.
They also have a deep lineup of spinning rides.
There are four in particular I want to highlight.
First is Viper.
This Venture Rides creation is the hybrid of a troika and scrambler, and it pulls some
strong forces when the small and large arms synch up, especially since the cars can swing
like a paratrooper.
I also have a review on this one, but this is one wild ride.
Second is Arctic Blast.
This Mack himalaya runs a long cycle both forwards and backwards.
And it offers both crushing laterals and faint weightlessness on the humps.
Third are both HyperSpin and Twister.
These are two scat rides that are pretty rare attractions that deliver some dizzying centripetal
forces.
Fourth is Surfer.
Unfortunately, I haven’t seen this ride in over a decade, but they still list it online.
This is one of those tip top/bubble rides where the cars spin while the platform bounces.
These tubs are incredibly easy to spin.
For dark rides, Fiesta Shows features a collection of tacky haunted houses and fun houses.
These are fun for kids, but comically bad for adults.
They have one that is- no joke- just a 10 second long vortex tunnel in a trailer.
However, the fun houses are extremely popular with kids.
Particularly the multi-level ones with the giant slides.
For water rides, you’re out of luck now.
Fiesta used to own a portable log flume, but they got rid of this roughly a decade ago.
Finally, you have plenty of kiddie rides at each fair for the youngest guests.
And they have done a good job updating their older ones in recent years.
Last but not least, you have the food.
I’ve gotten some of the fried foods over the years, but I think they’re really overpriced
for what you get.
I’d advise eating outside the fair.
This applies to the portable food stands inside the midway area.
Some of the larger fairs like the Topsfield Fair have other food stands unaffiliated to
Fiesta present as well, but they usually aren’t near the rides.
So do I recommend carnival from Fiesta Shows?
If there’s one nearby and you like spinning and/or pendulum rides, yes.
Fiesta Shows has some really nice flat rides.
The best ones to visit are the Marshfield and Topsfield Fairs, especially since those
fairs have extra activities such as demolition derbies and animal shows on top of the largest
ride midway.
And if you’re a coaster enthusiast in New England, you may get lucky finding an extra
credit in your travels, but know most of their fairs only have a single junior coaster.
So those are my thoughts on Fiesta Shows.
What are your thoughts on this carnival supplier?
Do you like their flat rides as much as me?
Let me know your thoughts about any of their attractions or fairs down in the comments.
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