NEWS RELEASE
GILMORE GIRLS FAN FEST
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AUSTIN, TX — Gilmore Girls Fan Fest is announcing plans for its first international fan festival to take place on historic Main Street Unionville, located in Markham, Ontario, Canada, where the original pilot was filmed. This festival, for fans, by fans, will take place Oct. 4 to 6, 2019. Tickets are available at www.gilmoregirlsfanfest.com.
Tickets for the three-day event are $275 (US) and include access to all events, activities and panels (meals and lodging are not included).
The festival offers fans a chance to experience obvious parallels of the fictional town, Stars Hollow, alongside several cast and crew members. With events inspired by the show, the weekend festivities have not been yet announced, but a sample of the 2018 event (in Connecticut) is listed on the website.
Programming and special guests for the event will be announced as soon as details are secured. Since 2016, the event has hosted 20+ cast and crew members each year that have graciously attended to meet with fans, sit on panels and participate in the festival activities that typically include 50+ events over the three-day weekend.
As for Unionville, it has seen unguided visitors for years, who often pose for pictures at various landmarks around the historic main street while reminiscing about the opening scene of the show where Lorelai crosses Main Street to enter Luke’s Diner for the very first time. For even more Unionville scenes, google “Gilmore Girls Unaired Pilot”, it’s out there.
“We are thrilled about the opportunity to welcome Gilmore Girls Fan Fest to our town. Historic Main Street is a great setting for an event like this and we’ve already begun to hear from fans across the globe who are planning their first trip to Canada specifically for this event,” Shawna Ferguson, executive director of the Unionville B.I.A., said.
“Because of its charming landscape, incredible culture, unique shopping and diverse menus at our local restaurants, we see the appeal that visitors adore in Unionville and we look forward to introducing these attendees to all we have to offer.”
The idea for Gilmore Girls Fan Fest was first conceived by festival founders Jennie and Marcus Whitaker on a drive through Connecticut in the summer of 2016. Since then, the couple has hosted three events in two rural Connecticut towns that mimic the esthetic of the showrunners idyllic Stars Hollow, which is a fictional town set in Connecticut.
“We were sitting in traffic outside of Hartford a few summers ago and my wife looked up the distance between the location of our car and the place where the show was dreamed up, at an inn located in Washington Depot, CT. The next thing I knew, we were reaching out to the Town Selectman and announcing plans for the first Gilmore Girls Fan Fest,” festival co-founder Marcus Whitaker said.
“After producing three festivals in Connecticut, we had planned to wind down the yearly event for a while. The idea for travelling to Unionville, where the pilot was filmed, became a discussion a few months ago and it created a new level of excitement for us,” festival co-founder Jennie Whitaker said.
“When we mentioned it to fans, at what was meant to be our last event, there was uproarious applause. That’s when we made the decision to travel north this year. And, from the response we’ve gotten, we know we’ll have quite a gathering in Unionville, both of fans who come every year and those who have been too far away in the past to make the trip.”
This historic main street, known for hosting events throughout the year, will welcome a travelling version of the festival during one of the most beautiful seasons of the year in the exact spot where this beloved TV show filmed its very first scenes.
For more details about the event and information on getting there, go to www.gilmoregirlsfanfest.com.
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