No Klingons Allowed: A Fan's Experience at The Official "Twilight Convention"

No Klingons Allowed: A Fan's Experience at The Official 'Twilight' Convention




The folks at Creation Entertainment are experts at organizing fan conventions. After all, they've been producing the highly successful 'Star Trek' conventions since the early 1990s. In August 2009, Creation ventured into a new arena by partnering with Summit Entertainment, the studio behind 'The Twilight Saga' films, to produce a series of official 'Twilight' fan conventions over the next three years.

This means that TwiFans from San Diego to Vancouver to Boston now have the opportunity to experience 'Twilight' on a whole new level. Where else but at an Official Twilight Convention can Twihards see their favorite vampires and wolves do a candid Q&A onstage, rock the dance floor with the actors, and be privy to exclusive interviews taped by the cast just for the tour? Of course, no fan convention is complete without photo ops (your choice of a lone wolf or the Wolf Pack in your pic), as well as a vendor room chock full of merchandise you didn't realize you needed until that moment. Anyone want to ogle my Edward Cullen umbrella?

Twi Tour hit Seattle last month, and I eagerly went to experience my first real fan convention. I arrived on Friday afternoon, just as The Hillywood Show finished presenting their 'New Moon' parody. I checked out the vendors room, then enjoyed watching the exclusive taped interviews with the 'New Moon' cast, projected on two large screens on either side of the stage. The actors answered questions sent in by fans; the interviews are lighthearted and fun, and there is much laughter from an appreciative audience. Taylor Lautner's acting idol? Christian Slater. Jamie Campbell Bower's biggest fear? Spiders.

Now it was time to sit back and watch the Yes/No Trivia Competition: three rounds of 'Twilight' trivia questions, with the last person remaining awarded a $250 gift certificate, a professional makeover, and a lucky spot at the Volturi Court during Saturday night's party. Believe it or not, a man won -- quite a feat, considering that 95 percent of the convention's attendees were female. He gave the makeover to his wife (still not sure if she was happy or mad about that...).

Later that evening Peter Facinelli (Dr. Cullen) came onstage, having just arrived from L.A. Although he admits to have been painfully shy as a child, he has come a long way, answering questions and keeping witty banter onstage for over an hour. Needless to say, the audience was delighted. He revealed that one of his fantasies is to go to Forks, WA, in his RV and park in the 'Dr. Cullen' spot at the hospital. Another funny tidbit is how he apparently practiced stitching up Bella's arm using a fridge full of chicken breasts.

Facinelli was kind enough to make a second appearance on Saturday morning, before his scheduled photo op session. Other 'New Moon' actors to go onstage that day were two of the Volturi, Charlie Bewley (Demetri) and Daniel Cudmore (Felix), as well as Chaske Spencer (Sam Uley). These three also attended the first portion of that evening's Volturi Vampire Ball, where they danced with the winners of the vampire makeover. Most in attendance were in what one would call "prom wear," although there were many who kicked it up a notch with vampire-themed attire.

Sunday morning began with Chow Down with the Wolf Pack, where $89 buys you breakfast and meet-and-greets with Alex Meraz, Chaske Spencer, Kiowa Gordon, and Bronson Pelletieri (Paul, Sam, Embry, and Jared). Kind of spendy, but all the proceeds go to a selected charity. More events in the theater that day included appearances by Gordon and Pelletier, panels led by owners of Twilight Lexicon and the 'Twilight' Facebook page, a costume contest, and a silent auction.

The convention's last day ended appropriately with a showing of 'Twilight' on the big screen. With that a fun weekend came to its close, and all swooning adjourned.









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