The science fiction convention StarFest Denver celebrated its 40th anniversary over the weekend of April 21-23, 2017, welcoming hundreds of attendees to meet and interact with actors, indie movie producers, special effects mavens, model makers and fellow fans.
Way back in May, 1977, science fiction fan KathE Walker, who had attended several conventions in New York, decided that there were enough fans in the Rocky Mountain region to make a convention worthwhile. She assembled some friends and they put together StarCon Denver. Guests at this very first convention were from the most fan-beloved TV show at that time, Star Trek – David Gerrold (author of the popular Star Trek: TOS episode, “The Trouble With Tribbles” and two non-fiction books about the series), Alan Dean Foster (author of many Star Trek novelizations) , Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand) and Susan Sackett – personal assistant to Gene Roddenberry.
Ironically, attendees at that convention were among the first to see the debut of the trailer for the new science fiction movie Star Wars, which opened across the country just three weeks later, on May 25, and galvanized a whole new generation of eye-sci fi fans (“eye-sci fi”, a term coined by the late, great Isaac Asimov to distinguish lovers of TV and movie science fiction from print science fiction) .
The souvenir T-shirt from this 40th anniversary convention featured an homage to that coup – illustrated scenes from Star Wars are pride-of-place, along with the saucer and one of the aliens from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, also released in 1977.
Souvenir T-shirt from StarFestDenver 2017
Guests at StarFest Denver include an eclectic mix – mostly TV actors but occasionally a movie star (Tom Cruise in 1994, promoting Interview with a Vampire!), authors, game designers (table top and card games), independent movie makers, cosplay notables, and even scientists.
Actors
Among the many guests for this 40th anniversary convention of 2017 were actors from science fiction TV such as Rene Auberjonois (Odo from Deep Space Nine), Walter Koenig (Checkov from Star Trek: The Original Series, and Bester from Babylon 5); Jodelle Ferland (Dark Matter); and from fantasy TV – Christian Kane from The Librarians; David Giuintoli and Bitsie Tulloch from Grimm; Hale Appleman from The Magicians.
Each actor had a photo and autograph session on Saturday and Sunday, and one Q&A session with fans.
Lines waiting patiently for autographs from Walter Koenig and Rene Aubergoniois
Authors
Kevin J. Anderson was the star author at this event (a Colorado resident, he’s had over 140 books published!), as well as Rebecca Moesta, Kevin Dilmore and Dayton Ward and quite a few others.
The “Fests”
StarFest has several “fests” running simultaneously to provide an eclectic mix of tipics and material for fans of any aspect of the genres of sf and fantasy. For the 2017 edition there was an ArtFest, GameFest, WhoFest, HorrorFest, KlingonFest, ModelFest, ScienceFest and RoboFest. Movies – both 50s classics and newer gems, were also being shown throughout the three days.
Stop in the Robot Fest room and you could meet the modelers themselves and talk about their techniques, their creations, and their love of their craft.
Full size model of the Robot from Lost in Space.
For the ScienceFest there was a stellar lineup of speakers – Steve Bailey from Deep Space Systems (headquartered in Colorado), Dr. Kenneth Carpenter (from NASA), Dr. Christopher Grasso, an engineer with Blue Sun Systems, Dr. Erin McDonald, the Colorado Coordinator for 314 Action (a group formed to highlight the need for more STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education in the United States), and Carolyn Collins Petersen, a science writer and documentary maker.
Lots of treasures to be found in the ginormous Dealer’s Room
Planning Your Visit is Essential!
There’s so much to see and do at this three-day convention that it’s important to plan your visit in advance so that you don’t miss a speaker or event you want to see. This is especially the case if you can spend only one day at the convention.
For example, the Great American Eclipse is taking place across the northern United States on August 21, 2017. People from around the country and even the world will be heading to various places along the “path of totality” – which in Wyoming will include Grand Teton National Park, Pavilion, Shoshoni, Riverton, Thermopolis Casper, Douglas, Glendo, Thermopolis, Lusk and Torrington.
The only presentation from the ScienceFest on Friday was “How to see the August solar eclipse” – and that’s the only time the presentation was given. In fact, all of the presentations/panels only took place one time, so if you are a fan of multiple genres you really have to pick and choose what you want to see carefully.
Although there was plenty to see and do on both Friday and Sunday (not the least of which was meeting new fans), Saturday was by far the most jam-packed day, with events happening from 8 am all the way to 10 pm.
Dr. Smith in the RobotFest Room
Here’s what was happening at the ComicFest on Saturday:
- Drawing with Red Team Go
- Spirit of the Samurai
- Character Creation
- Art of Barry McCain Jr.
- Drawing in Colorblind World
- Writing and Illustrating Comics
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A young Star Wars fan
Here’s what was happening at the HorrorFest on Saturday:
- Kids Creepy Coloring Books
- Genius of Stephen King
- Making of Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
- Body Painting
- Drawn to the Daarkside
- Indie Filmakers
- I Want to Believe
- Intro to Stunt Driving
- Back from the Dead Bryan & Baxter Live Event
A steampunk cosplay participant
Here’s what was happening at the KlingonFest on SAturday:
- Klingon Kulture
- Honor of Kahless
- Ship Battle Tactics – Top Gun Training
- Don’t be a petaQ-Learn Klingon Prop Etiquette
- Why the Federation Sucks!
- Klingon Minions: A How-to Draw Klingon Minions
- Klingon Language
- House VamPyr Member Meeting
- Region 17 Meet and Greet
Captain America
Here’s what was happening at the ModelFest on Saturday
- Airbrush Experience
- Paper and Plastic Make ‘n Take
- Model Lighting
- Building Resin Figures
- Chips and Scratches/Airbrush Experience
- Weathering
- Intro to Airbrush
- After Hours Modeling with the COMMies
Doctor Who fan
Here’s what was happening at the WhoFest on Saturday
- Meetup
- Doctor Who Through the Decades
- Writing Gallifreyan
- Cosplay Meetup
- Crafts and Games for Kids
- Doctor Who Scriptwriting
- How to be a Professional Whovian
Mark Steven Grove, director and Cynthia Rothrock, star of Star Raiders indie movie
And the above list doesn’t include the half dozen events taking place in each of the three SF Panel Rooms throughout the day!
Dealers Tables
In addition to the extremely large Dealer’s Room, there were Dealer’s Tables lined up in the same room that was hosting the actor’s autograph sessions.
There were several authors, some craftspeople, a couple of anti-bullying advocates, and even a representative from the Colorado Model Railroad Museum in Greeley, CO.
Social clubs such as the Star Wars’ storm troopers 501st Legion had a table, as did the Royal Manticoran Navy (fans of David Weber’s Honor Harrington series of military SF novels).
The fans
It may be overwhelming at first to walk into the lobby of the Denver Marriott DTC and see all the people milling about, most in costumes, but everyone is there to have fun and most of them will be very happy to stop and chat with you if you ask them about their costume and their particular fandom. The one thing that everyone at these conventions has is enthusiasm!
Iconic robots made out of reccled materials in the RobotFest room
StarFest Denver 2018
It’s too early to say who the guests will be for next year’s convention, but it is scheduled to be held in the same hotel, the Denver Marriot DTC in southwest Denver, at 4900 S. Syracuse Street. (DTC stands for Denver Technological Center and the area is home to office buildings, high rise apartments and a handful of hotels).
It’s a straight shot down I-25 south for everyone who’d like to attend this convention. You simply take exit 220 for I-225 toward I-70/Aurora/Limon, take Exit 2 and make sure you’re in the far left lane to get onto DTC Boulevard, eventually turn right onto East Union Street, and then turn onto Syracuse Street. Stay in the right hand lane and turn into the parking lot at The Office at DTC (4700 Syracuse Street) opposite the roadway from the Marriott.
There was plenty of parking there for StarFest Denver 2017, and should be for 2018! Cost to park there was $15 – cash only.
(Note that a straight shot down I-25 is not always the most time-efficient. If your GPS tries to make you get off at Exit 200 rather than Exit 220…that’s a good idea! It will take you through side streets before taking you back onto I-25 – but chances are you’ll miss the bottleneck of four lanes narrowing down to three which may have you sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the highway – not too bad when you’re trying to go home, mot so good when you’re trying to get to your destination!)
Regardless of the route you take to the hotel, always drive carefully and keep your eyes out for other drivers since many of them may be unfamiliar with the way as well!
Most convenient parking location for the convention – across the street in The Office parking lot
