Last year’s G-FEST (Godzilla Festival) had the distinction of being the only one I’ve missed in the last twenty years. However, after the event’s two-year Covid hiatus. it almost felt like going again for the very first time. I should mention that although I grew up a Godzilla kid and do enjoy the movies, my sons, Alex and Luke, are the true fans. Their seemingly innate fervor for Japan’s most famous monster is what inspired me to bring them to G-FEST back when they were grade schoolers and now, at ages 25 and 19, their devotion has remained remarkably steadfast. This year, I decided to reassert our G-FEST tradition and spend a family weekend there together, this time as adult fans. 

My eldest son, Alex, drove up from his military base in Missouri and arrived just in time for me to log off of my home workstation at 2:30 pm that Friday. We quickly loaded the car and drove up to Rosemont, Illinois, about 50 minutes north of my apartment. Luke is my last remaining live-with-me kid since my other three have become independent and anxiously paced most of the day waiting for us to leave. G-FEST was already underway and we were bummed to be missing the “90 Years of King Kong” panel at 3.

The Crowne Plaza traditionally hosted this event until the Legendary Monster series caused its attendees to triple in size and require a much bigger venue. Thus, starting last year, the Hyatt Regency across the street is now its official locale. Despite its immense size, it was booked solid before I finally got around to making reservations. Fortunately, two neighboring hotels (including Crowne) were also included at the convention rate and still had available rooms.

The dealer room was also open and, since both my sons are serious kaiju collectors, had been saving their money all year specifically for this hallowed event. As soon as we picked up our badges from Registration, we quickly headed over. Although Godzilla Bandai figures were the toys of their youth, they have since graduated to the more expensive S.H. Monsterarts and X-Plus series. Between the two of them, they managed to drop well over $1000 in just twenty minutes! All of the items were X-Plus which included Megalon, Kiryu, a Godzilla vs Gigan two-pack, and a 1991 Godzilla.

I spent nothing as my contribution was to be a dad;  procure the hotel room, pay for meals, and basically let them dictate how they’d like the weekend to go. My extra money is being saved for my favorite event – the upcoming Flashback Weekend (also at the Hyatt). In my world, G-FEST is for my family and me, while Flashback is for me and my friends.

Speaking of meals, we all walked back to the Crowne Plaza to secure the kid’s spoils before having dinner at the adjoining Murray Bros Caddyshack restaurant. Although I’m not a golf person and think the movie was just okay, the excellent food and service keep me coming back every time I attend an event in Rosemont. While dining, we looked over the weekend schedule which was now all online – sadly, no more physical G-FEST program.

Since we’re all G-FEST veterans, and didn’t feel up for another 90-degree hike to the Hyatt, we skipped the scheduled orientation and relaxed in our room until it was time to leave for the movie, scheduled at 10:30 PM. As with previous years, select kaiju-related films would take place at the famous Pickwick Theater in Park Ridge, Illinois. Tonight’s feature was Godzilla against Mecha Godzilla (2002) with its star, Yumiko Shaku, in attendance, Before leaving for the theater, we noticed the hotel lights flickering off and on. This would be due to a massive storm system plowing through the area – after it had already been hit with a tornado just a couple days before. As a sidebar, this has been a banner year for tornadoes in Chicagoland. Six twisters dropped down just this past Friday leaving us without power in stifling heat for seventeen hours. Needless to say, I spent Saturday celebrating “Barbenheimer” (that’s the “Barbie” movie and “Oppenheimer” back-to-back for those living under a rock) at the theater to stay cool. But I digress…

To say the drive to Pickwick was harrowing would be a gross understatement. Once we arrived and saw the long line of people wrapped around the theater, however, we quickly realized we weren’t the only idiots willing to risk life and limb to see a movie most of us already had sitting on our shelves. Now that’s dedication if not insanity!

We found some seats and later the event organizer, JD Lees, asked if we could save the three seats in front of us. These would later be occupied by him as well as Ms. Shaku and her interpreter. As much as I hated the drive over, it seemed well worth it to watch the film alongside its star and watch her reactions to her character’s applause.

The movie had some rough scenes but this audience didn’t care and enthusiastically clapped for just about everything. Sometimes, I found this confusing. For example, when Godzilla would be getting blasted with a death ray they’d clap, and then when Godzilla destroyed said death ray, they’d also clap (???). I’m not sure whose side anybody was on but had to admire their fervor. Prior to the film, a featurette played a montage of movie dinosaurs and kaiju throughout the years. I thought it was pretty cool since I love dinosaurs but this would also inspire strange bursts of applause. Only this crowd would clap louder for Anguirus than Willis Obrien’s King Kong!

After the movie, we returned to our hotel exhausted. The next morning would begin our first full day of G-FEST, and we’d need all the rest we could get.

~Dave