Blobfest 25
July 12 – 14
The Colonial Theatre
Phoenixville, Penn.
What draws revelers every year to BlobFest, the three-day gathering celebrating the 1958 classic film The Blob at the theater where a famous scene was filmed?
The answer I got any time I asked anyone in attendance at this year’s fest: It was the community of it all, a place to be weird and quirky and silly with hundreds of like-minded strangers.
Dawn Thibodeau (pictured above) was watching her local public TV station at home in Pittsburgh four years ago when she saw a segment on BlobFest featured. Now every year she creates a new costume for the annual costume contest; this year she decided to base her costume around finger puppet monsters she collects.
Jenny Kopcho (pictured) from Morrisville was at her fifth BlobFest. “I had always seen clips of The Blob,” she saids, “but it wasn’t until I came to BlobFest did I see it in full. The crowd really makes the experience. It’s just so lively, it wouldn’t be the same watching from home.” She loves the campiness of the cult classic film. “You’re watching this movie in a theater that’s in the film you’re watching — it’s really meta.”
Matt McGinnis (at left in photo), a performer from Northeastern Philly and collaborator for the revival of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and Melissa and Josh Tapley show off Blob-inspired attire by local artist Geek Boy Press.
Josh Tapley and Matt McGinnis (pictured left and center) paraded down to the Colonial Theater with fire extinguishers to welcome the crowds to the fest. The lead character in The Blob realized the CO2 in an extinguisher made the Blob monster retreat — and saved the town.
Lucio Guigle, a 7 and half year-old from Phoenixville, teamed up with his mom Jess to make a Blob inspired costume for the costume contest, his favorite activity at the festival. “We love all the weird and fun things that Phoenixville does, so we try to come out and experience it all,” Jess told me.
Aubrey, also 7 and a half, came to Blob Fest with her dad Steve Polonsky, who had heard about the festival over the years being from nearby Collegeville. Aubrey’s not into horror movies, but loves The Blob. Her favorite part of the movies is when the blob monster comes into the theater and everyone runs out (a scene recreated by fans every year at the festival). “We love how quirky the whole scene is here. We’ll be coming back every year for the foreseeable future,” Steve said.
