G-FEST XXII: Godzilla takes Chicago!

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Once again fans of Godzilla and giant Japanese monsters converged on the Crowne Plaza hotel in Rosemont, Illinois to celebrate G-FEST (Godzilla Festival). This marked its twenty-second gathering and my twelfth in a row as what started out as a fun event to take my Godzilla-obsessed six year old son, Alex, to had since become a family tradition. My last three kids would follow in Alex’s footsteps and over the years we’d partake in just about everything the convention had to offer; art contests, kaiju poetry, costuming, model-making, and the film festivals playing at the nearby Pickwick Theater.

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The Costumes of G-FEST (Godzilla Festival) XXI!

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The costume contest of G-FEST (Godzilla Festival) has increased by leaps and bounds (it went from around three entrees in the beginning to over forty contestants this year) while serving as a finale of sorts to its participants.  G-FEST, however, is not content to just have their cosplay (who are often too bulky to move about during the weekend as traditional costumers can) dress as their favorite monster. They provide an opportunity for them to stomp around a miniature city while acting out in  their own kaiju movie.

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G-FEST XXI’s Monster Models!

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Day two of G-FEST XXI began with me snoozing soundly in the comfy hotel bed before getting the distinct impression I was being stared at. I cracked open an eyeball to see my ten year old son, Luke, looking at me intently. “Shouldn’t we be getting downstairs to the convention?” he asked. I checked my phone and it was 5:30am. “Um…go back to sleep!” But at that point it was too late…we were up. Thank God the room had a coffee machine.

We ate breakfast which I’d packed along and then I got ready (Luke was already dressed of course) and, by 9am, I’m pretty sure he’d asked me “is it time to go down yet?” somewhere in the double digits. Patience is definitely not his strong suit. Finally we headed downstairs so we could get him signed up for the Godzilla video game tournament before the big competition began later that morning. This gave me time to check out the Art room (which you saw in the last post) and then, my favorite G-FEST feature of them all, the model room!

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Thank God(zilla) for G-FEST!

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My ten year old son, Luke, and I arrived today for G-FEST XXI . In the ten years I’ve attended the Godzilla Festival, I’d never seen the registration line so long on a Friday. Last year I attended over ten conventions, most outside of my sweet home Chicago with poor G-FEST getting a quick stop-over on its final day. This year would be the opposite as I vowed to avoid virtually every other event and focus solely on one of my favorites.

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Celebrating Godzilla at G-FEST!

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IMG_3081Matt Harris’ amazing work debute at G-FEST XIX

Long before I became a “Terror Dave” or even knew what a “blog” was, there was only one fan event I attended regularly. It was exactly ten years ago that I experienced my first G-FEST (Godzilla Festival) and it would not only become something I’d look forward to every year after but one my kids would anticipate even more than Christmas itself.

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