Gilmore Girls Fan Fest To Be Held In Kent, Connecticut This October

KENT, CT (March 1, 2017)—Gilmore Girls Fan Fest today announced plans for this years’ fan festival which will take place in Kent, Connecticut. Kent is one of the many beautiful towns in Litchfield County, an area said to have inspired Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino’s original script. This festival, for fans, by fans, will take place October 20- 22, 2017. A limited number of tickets are available (first come, first serve), at www.gilmoregirlsfanfest.com beginning March 1st at noon (EST).

The festival offers fans a chance to experience obvious parallels of the fictional town the show was based on, highlighting some of the most beloved elements of the series, but does not attempt to recreate the town of Stars Hollow (which is perfectly formed in the minds of its fans). The festival, in its second year, will once again be produced by fans, Jennie and Marcus Whitaker. The Whitaker’s explored Kent, after an introduction from David Schreiber the owner of Club Getaway, when Washington was no longer able to accommodate an October event. Outside of simply offering something new, this year’s move to Kent offers obvious benefits to festival goers. While maintaining small town charm, Kent boasts a much more traditional town square atmosphere than Washington and is lined with shops, restaurants, meeting spaces and galleries to explore. In addition, the area has more lodging available, specifically within the gates of Club Getaway which is opening up 300 beds one mile from downtown Kent and offering their own lodging package that includes two hot breakfasts, drink tickets and a shuttle to and from town among other amenities available on the property.

“We are so excited to welcome the Gilmore Girls Fan Fest to Kent,” Tim Good, President of the Kent Chamber of Commerce and owner of The Good Gallery, one of the towns many art galleries, said. “This is a wonderful opportunity for our community, to welcome these devoted fans to our little piece of New England, especially in the fall. All of the businesses and organizations here in Kent are enthusiastic and have already started to plan for this very special weekend. We know that this small Litchfield town of ours will be reminiscent of many aspects of what the fans will wish for and we will be sure not to disappoint!” 

With events inspired by the show, the weekend festivities are still being set but will mirror many of last year’s events with even more activities for fans to embrace, given the longer timeline for planning the festival and based on the amenities of the town. Obviously there will be coffee, screenings, panels, meet and greets and themed activities galore but the line up has not been finalized. The schedule will be announced much closer to the event, but some of the activities should be listed on the site as early as next week. Oh, and as if being named the best spot for fall foliage in New England wasn’t enough, there will be real-life town troubadours intentionally placed as festival attendees daydream about walk and talks in their own version of Stars Hollow.  

The idea was first conceived by festival founders Jennie and Marcus Whitaker on a drive through Connecticut in July 2016. This year they are looking forward to an entirely new, but familiar, experience in Kent. 

“What an incredible journey we’ve been on over the past 8 months,” Gilmore Girls Fan Fest co-founder, Marcus Whitaker, said. “Jennie and I have spent so much time in Connecticut that we oftentimes feel like we’re a part of the community. We get the pieces and tiny nuances the writers grabbed ahold of and built this show around. To be honest, the more we travel through rural Connecticut, specifically Litchfield County, the more parallels we see and the more we look forward to connecting fans to something they love."

To date, the festival has seven confirmed cast members, including Rose Abdoo (Gypsy/Berta), Rini Bell (Lulu), Aris Alvarado (Caesar), Keiko Agena (Lane Kim), Biff Yeager (Tom), Sam Pancake (Donald) and Liz Torres (Miss Patty), six confirmed crew members including Valerie Campbell (costumer), Carla McCloskey (1st assistant director), George Bell (dialogue coach), Jami Rudofsky (casting director), Sheila Lawrence (producer & writer), and Stan Zimmerman (writer). Kristi Carlson, author of the “Eat Like a Gilmore” cookbook will also return to the festival to host an event featuring a few of her amazing Gilmore-inspired recipes. 

“I said it last year and I’ll say it again, because not much has changed for me. I’m just as much of a fan as anyone else here and this all still feels like a dream. But, what comes to mind, for me, every time I think about the festival, is a direct quote from Amy Sherman-Palladino in a 2001 Desert News interview about her thoughts on the series,” festival co-founder, Jennie Whitaker, said. “Pulling one from Amy’s book I’ll say, ‘If I can make people feel this much of what I felt walking around this fairy town, I thought that would be wonderful’. And that’s really why we're doing this, it’s all for fun, for fellow fans and to celebrate a lot of really talented people we admire.”

The festival hopes to add more cast and crew members as the date gets closer.

For more details about the event and information on getting there, go to www.gilmoregirlsfanfest.com. 

Gilmore Girls Fan Fest 

Gilmore Girls Fan Fest, founded by husband and wife, Marcus and Jennie Whitaker, is a production of Wild Berry & Whimsy, LLC. Gilmore Girls Fan Fest will take place in Kent, CT October 20-22, 2017. For more information go to www.gilmoregirlsfanfest.com.