Universal Fan Fest Nights is returning for its second year at Universal Studios Hollywood in 2026, and, for IGN Fan Fest, we were able to talk to senior director of entertainment production and executive producer Stephen Siercks all about why this night filled with Scooby-Doo Meets Universal Monsters, One Piece, Dungeons & Dragons, Harry Potter, colorful Yoshis, and much more is one fans won’t want to miss.
Tickets are now on sale for Universal Fan Fest Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood, and it will run for 12 nights only; April 23-25, May 1-3, May 7-9, and May 14-16. The after-hours event is separately ticketed, and, alongside the experiences you can read about below, there will be even more character interactions, cosplay and photo opportunities, curated food, beverage, and merch, and the chance to experience many of the attractions available elsewhere in the parks.
Universal Fan Fest Nights Returns For an Even More Exciting Second Year
We began our chat by discussing what makes Universal Fan Fest Nights so special, and Siercks kicked things off by sharing a few words about the event as a whole and why he believes this second year will be even better than the first.
“One of the great things about being able to develop these events year to year is that we can innovate and iterate each time,” Siercks said. “What we found really resonated with our fans and guests last year that we’re continuing to enhance this year is that level of interaction and engagement. Our guests really wanted a chance to meet their favorite characters, walk through their favorite worlds, and experience their favorite storylines from these different fandoms and genres. So, being able to see that in real time last year gave us a good sense of what we wanted to continue developing for this year’s event.”
This year’s event features some returning favorites and brand-new experiences, and the most exciting one may just be Scooby-Doo Meets The Universal Monsters: Mystery on the Backlot. This will give guests a chance to live out an episode of Scooby-Doo (complete with Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy!) where Frankenstein, Dracula, Bride of Frankenstein, and Wolf Man are the villains.
What makes this experience even more special is that it partially takes place on Universal’s world-famous outdoor film sets, “from the cobblestone streets of Little Europe to the iconic Court of Miracles, the original filming locations for historic Universal horror films Frankenstein (1931) and The Wolf Man (1941).”
“Firstly, you’ve got two amazing brands that just were meant to be together,” Siercks said. “Being able to bring together the legacy of Universal Monsters with the nostalgia and playfulness of Scooby-doo was just one of those ideas we had early on and one we were able to bring to life in an exciting way.
“And then you layer on top of that the uniquely Universal part of it, where we get to bring our guests to the backlot and the birthplace of the Universal Monsters and allow them to get off the tram and feel as though they’re living a real life episode of Scooby-doo.”
Speaking of being in an episode, Siercks told me that, as you head to the backlot, you’ll understand why you’re on this adventure and that something awful has happened.
“Someone has cursed the backlot and brought the Universal Monsters to life, and they are out and about throughout Little Europe,” Siercks teased. “Our job is to support the Mystery Inc. gang and solve this thing. We’ve got different clues that we have to solve for and interactions that we have to have with the characters – both Scooby-doo and friends and the Universal Monsters – to ultimately, at the end of the experience, go into a small moment where we get a chance, just like in the end of every Scooby-doo episode, to see if we got it right. And there’s the iconic moment of the mask coming off the villain and revealing who the suspect was all along. So from start to finish, it truly is a really remarkable, unique aspect of the event.”
Much like experiences like the Back to the Future one at Universal Hollywood’s first Fan Fest Nights, there will also be different things to discover each time you embark on this mysterious adventure.
