by ThirdAveHooligan
Despite Phoenixville’s contributions to American history, our little town has gained national recognition for its contribution to Hollywood. BlobFest, an annual celebration of the 1958 movie “The Blob” which featured a young Hollywood icon named Steve McQueen and a famous scene featuring our very own Colonial Theatre (view trailer). Stories about BlobFest, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, have been featured on mega-media outlets like CNN and NPR, and have put Phoenixville and its celebration of the cult-classic B-film in the national spotlight. That’s all well and good for lookie-lous and out-of-towners looking for something to do after a holiday weekend (this year’s festival runs from July 10 through 12), but let’s get to the real story here and found out what cool things BlobFest has to offer…
The Re-Enactment: Personally, I’ve always wanted to do the running out of the Colonial Theatre, but have always ended up wearing inappropriate footwear (It’s flip-flop weather for Christ’s sake). It is in the QUINTESSENTIAL part of the whole weekend. Imagine a running with the bulls of Pennsylvania proportions. I’ve seen EMTs doing their job, if that’s any indication of how physical it can get. Be forewarned that timing is important: last year the event was done 15 minutes before it was scheduled to.
The Tin Foil Hat contest: Participants from four different age groups (children 10 and under, young adults age 11-16, adults and groups) construct hats made of tin foil. The hats are then put on display at the Phoenix Village Art Center and the public votes (voting fee is $1 per vote). With the potential $4 one could spend on voting, just head down to PJ Ryans and get a BlobAle, an amber beer brewed by SlyFox Brewery. I had some last year and it was quite good. Hopefully they’ll bring it back this year. Regardless, better to spend your hard earned duckets on a cold one than some headwear that will probably end up covering some leftovers or Sunday’s roast beef.
Steve McQueen look-alike contest: Doesn’t look like it’s a scheduled event this year…dammit…I really want to see a bunch of people who look like Steve McQueen and then decide who looks the MOST like him. Last year, the lucky winner got to be in the Fire Extinguisher Parade, which reminds me:
The Fire Extinguisher Parade: Quite possibly one of the most idiotic but entertaining things I’ve ever witnessed in my life. In the movie, the blob was neutralized by this handy device; the parade bastardizes it’s heroic status by having people dancing in a circle to rockabilly music singing a song about the blog, playing kazoos and generally acting silly. Personally, If I want to dance around in a circle to music, I’ll go to a Phish show, thanks.
Other highlights to the festival include numerous showings of the movie, which is pretty cool (in addition to Phoenixville, the movie was filmed in Chester County) and other contests such as a short film contest, a screaming contest (guarantee it’s won by a 5-year old girl), a screenwriter’s contest, a façade/window contest for businesses downtown and a costume contest (why not dress like Steve McQueen). More info on all the happenings can be found here.
If you’ve never been to BlobFest before, you should definitely go. The first year I attended the event I found that by having a few too many BlobAles (I REALLY hope Sly Fox makes it again this year!!) you can really make the most of this surreal event.
Burt Bacharach’s incredible theme music for “the Blob”:
