New Stranger Things Experience developed with show creators set to go on national tour

A surprising outdoor entertainment highlight for Southern California in 2020 was the Stranger Things: The Drive-Into Experience. Created by Netflix in conjunction with event discovery platform Fever, the experience celebrated all three seasons of Stranger Things. SYFY WIRE visited the event during its opening days in 2020, and found it to be a truly faithful, live stage show that gave off plenty of SDCC-style vibes. Despite various lockdowns and COVID surges, the drive-in remained a safe event for more than seven months, letting audiences drive into “Hawkins, Indiana” within the enclosed safety of their cars while an in-world show played out before them and via their car speakers. 

With the U.S. continuing to open up, there’s a new, non drive-in show coming in Spring 2022. Co-produced again by Netflix and Fever, Stranger Things: The Experience tickets for New York and San Francisco go on sale Thursday, July 8 at 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT through the event website. Additional venues across the country will be announced at a later date.

Even if you partook in the Los Angeles event, there's plenty to be excited about this new adventure. It was developed with the show’s creators, according to the press release, and boasts a new storyline that engages audiences to explore the “darker side of Hawkins” by visiting Hawkins Lab and the Upside Down. There’s also a more free-range interactive section that reproduces locations that fans of the series will know well including Scoops Ahoy, the Palace Arcade, Starcourt Mall, and more. 

In May, Netflix released a cryptic new teaser for Stranger Things 4, with a focus on the Hawkins Lab and its notorious history including Dr. Brenner's (Matthew Modine) experiments on Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and other children. With the Stranger Things: The Experience banner (shown above) featuring Brenner front and center, we can only imagine there might be some tie into the new season’s storyline as well.

We still don't have an official release date for Stranger Things 4 on Netflix, but the show is currently in production. Stranger Things: The Experience comes to New York City and San Francisco in Spring 2022, with more cities to be announced soon.