BlobFest
Friday, July 10 thru Sunday, July 12, 2009
Tickets
- Friday Night Running Out & Stage Show: $5
- The Blob Screenings: $10 adults / $8 seniors / $6 children and members
- Advance purchase tickets will be available ONLINE as of June 2. Online ticket prices are slightly higher in order to cover our credit card transaction fees.
- UPDATE: Advance online tickets will be available thru Thu, Jul 9 at 5PM. After that, tickets will be sold on a first come, first served basis at the box office. And, remember, we take cash only at the BO.
- Click here to purchase tickets online.
- Throughout the weekend, you must purchase a ticket to enter the theatre.
- Click here to see the BlobFest Event Schedule.
The Blob Film Screenings
- Saturday: 11:30AM, 3:15PM, and 8PM
- The 11:30 and 3:15 screenings are each a double feature with Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957)
- Doors will open at 7:30PM for the 8PM screening
- The 8:00 screening is a double feature with 13 Ghosts (1960)
- Sunday: 2PM (This screening is not a double feature)
- Click here to see the BlobFest Event Schedule.
Contests
- Costume Contest (Saturday at 1PM)
- Façade/Window Contest
- Short Film Contest (Deadline is June 15)
Click here to see the entries on YouTube. - Scriptwriting Contest (Deadline is June 15)
- Please note that the Scream Contest is on hiatus this year.
- The Phoenix Village Art Center has adopted the Tin Foil Hat Contest.
- Thanks to MiNDTV for sponsoring our Short Film Contest!
Special Guests
- The Neanderthals will perform on Friday night and Saturday afternoon during the StreetFair.
- Wes Shank and The Original Blob
- Ghoul-A-Go-Go
Blob Locations Self-Guided Tour
Click here to download a map and directions for the self-guided tour put together for last year’s BlobFest by Dave Lentz.
Volunteers
We need about 65 volunteers to help with this year’s BlobFest. If you are interested, please click here to download a pdf about volunteering.
StreetFair Vendors
If you are interested in having a vendor booth at this year’s BlobFest StreetFair, please click here to download a pdf of the vendor application and information.
Hotel Information
We recommend the Courtyard by Marriott in Collegeville. It’s only 4 miles from the Colonial and they’re offering a discounted rate to all BlobFest guests, but you must make your reservation by JUNE 26! When making your reservation just enter BFJBFJA into the GROUP CODE field to get the discount.
Also in July
Our Classics on Sundays series will feature movies filmed in Phoenixville! All shows are at 2PM. Tickets are $6 / $4.
- Sun, Jul 5: 4D Man (1959)
- Sun, Jul 12: The Blob (1958)
- Sun, Jul 19: Bright Victory (1951)
- Sun, Jul 26: From the Terrace (1960)
Here’s a little something to whet your appetite for BlobFest from a super cool website, www.trailersfromhell.com.
See you in July!
BlobFest Stamps
Announcing the perfect souvenir for Blob Fans!! These valid US First Class Postage PhotoStamps are from Stamps.com — a United States Postal Service approved provider of PCpostage. They are valid U.S. Postage, and are authorized by special arrangement with the copyright holder of The Blob. They will not be available anywhere else.
These beautiful stamps feature 25 different key scenes from the movie, from the famousColonial Runout to the Downingtown Diner, Jerry’s Market, DocHallen’s house, Steve, Jane and the Teens, the Colonial Balcony, scenes of the Blob itself (of course), and many, many more.
Each stamp is approximately 2 x 1.4 inches and features the famous Blob logo from the1958 movie trailer as well as “50th Anniversary 1958-2008″ and “BlobFest, Colonial Theatre, Phoenixville, PA.” They are presented in a philatelic-quality 8″ x 11″pocket sheet that both protects and provides a perfect way to display them.
Limit of two sets of 28 per order- the number of available sets is extremely limited. Please note - due to copyright restrictions,these stamps are not authorized for resale by purchasers.
Each set of 28 stamps is $100.00 and are available for pickup at the Colonial. All proceeds go to the non-profit Colonial Theatre. Call 610-917-1228 to reserve yours today!
BlobFest 2008 featured on Strange Pennsylvania
The next air date for Strange Pennsylvnia with Dave and Dave is Sunday, December 28th at 1pm on WHYY. This episode includes their visit to BlobFest 2008.
BlobFest 2008 Wrap Up
It’s a wrap. We have ticked off the 9th Annual BlobFest, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the film’s release, and it was a screaming success.
Graced by the marvelous RICOU BROWNING, the actual underwater creature in the 50’s classic The Creature from the Black Lagoon, fans heard great stories and learned amazing anecdotes about our favorite time in film history. The man has certainly had interesting experiences, from James Bond to life with a sea lion. And guess what, TOM SAVINI came!!!! What a great and talented guy!!! No longer Godot-esque, we got to see one of the great special effects person in person. He has an inextricable connection to PA, having worked with George Romero on the original Night of the Living Dead and going on to be a premier makeup artist, actor and director. Both our fabulous guest stars were renaissance film people, doing many things well in the business AND having archetypal films under their belts. Thanks to both these great men for taking part in our celebration.
Speaking of celebrations, THE NEANDERTHALS rocked the house. Oh, those guys in leopard skins…how they rock and rolled. A big big crowd hit and just awfully fun to work with,the committee says hats off to the swinging cavemen.
Dave of the committee arranged for a new set of Blob postal stamps, complete with official cancellations from the post office. Joan of the committee was instrumental in obtaining mega-coverage from the media this year, including a lovely piece on AMCTV.com, and a great article carried by the Associated Press.
We saw great old 3D, in The Creature from the Black Lagoon, still a moving piece about the unknown in nature and mans arrogance. And we saw….da da DA…..The Tingler with Vincent Price and a creepy noir script. Perhaps some even “felt the tingle” and saw those wiggly creepers in the actual Colonial Theatre. William Castle would have been proud of us, I think.
Joan and Dave were TINGLER WRANGLERS on Saturday night, also. Along with myself, who made the tinglers, and Jeffrey. Cindy was there wrangling the tinglers, also. If you were lucky enough to be in the audience that night, I am sure you will remember it fondly.
Shane was his inimitable self or whomever he was playing… and this year it was multiple characters, DR. FRANKENSTONE and the nuevo Ed Bannister among them. GHOUL-A-GO-GO……we love the ghoul-a-go-go. Vlad and Creighton and the Invisible Man were in attendance, causing their unique form of fear and love we have grown to crave at BLOBFEST.
THE PATIENT CREATURES made their appearance on Saturday afternoon, even providing the scream that opened the StreetFair festivities.
And, wait, was that Steve McQueen? Nope, it was our wonderful newly minted Steve look-a-like BRYAN BICKHART who did Steve McQ proud with his earnest and true blue antics. Thanks so much to him. And, we had the guys from WCOJ…they were helping us rock and roll out on the street. Thanks much, guys.
The Bridge Street businesses did a Blobulous job on decorating for BlobFest this year. We heard numerous people comment on the fun they had looking at the various windows and wondering who would win the contest.
We must give our grateful props to The Chester County Convention and Visitors Bureau, without whom this party would not have gotten started. AND, thanks to them, the fabulous BLOB PLAQUE is done and installed in the balcony, creating a place to visit the terror and rub our hometown monster for luck.
Special thanks to those who helped us realize the fabrication. PH foundry in Pittsburgh for casting the sculptural part of the plaque and International Bronze Plaque Company, Ltd. for casting the word part for us. The plaque has been in the works for about two years, so we are very proud it is finally a bronze reality.
Well, remember, about the time the fireflies come out in summer, its time to BEWARE….. BlobFest is coming again to Phoenixville. See you then!
Andee from the BlobFest committee
(And remember, beware of the Blob!)
BlobFest 2008 in the Press and on the Web
Cinemassacre did a series for Spike TV on alien invader movies and their remakes. Click here to watch Part 3 of the series. The Blob coverage starts at about 8:18.
Click here to see the video produced the AARP about Blobfest 2008.
Kevin Maher and the crew at AMC’s Sci-Fi Scanner Blog were at Blobfest this year. Click here to see the video.
Here’s a video from YouTube a view of the Running Out Re-enactment from above.
Click here to listen to a story about the Blob that ran on NPR’s All Things Considered on Sep 10, 2008 and to read Keith Brand’s essay about Phoenixville.
Click here to read an article from The Weekly Standard.
Click here to read an article in The Boston Globe.
Click on the links below to read some of the pre-BlobFest coverage in the press.
Philadelphia Magazine July 10, 2008
The Philadelphia Inquirer July 10, 2008
Thank you!
The Chester County Conference and Visitors Bureau was the generous sponsor of BlobFest 2008.
BlobFest 2007 Wrap Up
Well, BlobFest 8 is history.
A stunning year it was. We got to meet Jack Harris, producer of The Blob, Kate Phillips, Howie Fishlove, Dick Taylor and his son Don, and Shorty’s son Kris Yeaworth. Great guests…the ever intelligent and gracious Mary Jo Pehl, Ghoul A Go Go (a BlobFest favorite), the fabulous Patient Creatures - whose presence makes the days and nights of BlobFest extra spooky.
Our new projects this year were well-received. We awarded two SHORTY AWARDS for our short Blob-related film contest. Winners were “Blob Jelly” by Dave Perillo and Clair Poletti in the 18 and over category and “Stalk of the Blob Man” by Matthew McGinnis in the under 18 category. Thanks to all who submitted this year – they were a blast to watch!
Lots and lots of people came out in their TINFOIL HATS, and 70 of them competed in our competition. Friday night we chose four winners, but later, we realized we needed to recognize yet one more hat. The entry from Barbara Knudsen, which was pointedly made of 100% recycled foil and fell squarely within our INCONVENIENT BLOB global warming theme. Yeah, Barbara! Thank you to Kathy at the Phoenix Village Arts Center for letting us display the hats there.
Special thanks to two European artists, Eclectech and Miss Prizm, who graciously allowed us to use their hilarious TINFOIL HAT SONG. The crowd loved it, as we hoped they would.
Absent because of mechanical difficulty was Kyra Schon. We missed her greatly and hope she will make it to the next BlobFest. We hurt.
The Colonial had a fabulous RUNNING OUT, thanks to all of you wonderful fans who enjoy the chaos and energy of the recreation, and there were oodles of bystanders to watch including the news media. Thank you guys.
And this year, we had an incredible FIRE EXTINGUISHER PARADE with Madame Blobvovnia and George Muller on fire extinguisher officiating. Next year, the wildness continues.
Stu and The Rivers rocked, literally. Thank you guys for your efforts and energy.
Till next year, when we will again wait for Tom Savini and celebrate our very own hometown monster, the Blob, the BlobFest Committee reminds you to BEWARE.
Thanks very much.
Andee
BlobFest 2007 in the Press and on the Web
Click here to see videos of BlobFests past and present on You Tube.
Click here to see a video about the 30th Anniversary celebration of The Blob.
Click here to see the Slate.com video about BlobFest 2007
Click here to read the accompanying Slate.com article.
Click here to listen to the pre-BlobFest 2007 story that ran on NPR’s Here & Now.
Click here to download a pdf of the New York Times piece from June 10, 2007.
Click here to read the Cinemaretro.com re-cap of BlobFest 2007.
Click here to listen to the NPR Weekend Edition story on BlobFest 2005.
BlobFest 2007 Shorty Award Nominees
Click here to see “BlobPort 2007″ and “How Not to Make Pudding.”