Next Festival in Tarrytown????

[doombuggy69]

Jim Pierson has announced on the Festival website the following:

Plans for next year were announced: the Festival will present a special Weekend in Tarrytown, the New York location of Lyndhurst, "Collinwood" in the films "House of Dark Shadows" and "Night of Dark Shadows." Details will be announced soon.

What happened to the posting I read on this board where Marcy Robin said the next get together would be in CA??     I am very upset and disapointed in Jim's decision to do the next event on the east coast for 2 years in a row. That is ridiculous!! The original idea was to alternate the Festival between west and east coast every year.  I live in CA, and simply cannot make it to an east coast event.  I very much looked forward every 2 years to attending the west coast conventions.  Now I have absolutely nothing to look forward to.  Thanks Jim....

[ProfStokes]

I am both disappointed and angry about the new Fest location.  By rights, 2004 should belong to the West Coast.  Several of my friends in California and Idaho face the same problem; they're not able to travel and they already feel gypped because they couldn't attend the Brooklyn "Farewell Fest".  Tarrytown is already the site of the annual Halloweenathon; why have two events in the same place in one year?  I realize Lyndhurst is special because of the DS connection, but it still doesn't make sense to me.

ProfStokes

[Annie]

I like it in LynnHurst NY myself only because i
haven't ever been to one at all . Missed out this
yr.             Love Anne

[Nancy]

The east coast is the where both DS movies were shot, where the series was taped, and where the largest concentration of fans live in or relatively near.  The east coast fests have been larger than LA in the past.

This is probably what Jim meant when he said the festivals would continue in some way if the support was there.   I guess he will find out come next year.

Nancy

[The Ghost of Sarah Collins]

This is the worst DS news I've heard... I was so looking forward to next years gathering in California, please let this be a mistake. 


  Sarah's

[Philippe Cordier]

I'm not familiar with the area at all ... would it support the thousands of fans who normally come to the festivals? ... I mean, the physical location of Lyndhurst where events would presumably be held, in addition to hotel accommodations?

Not that I'm likely to be able to attend again in the next few years, although there's always the very remote possibility of an unexpected windfall ...

 

[Raineypark]

Not to worry Vlad.....Tarrytown is not the boondocks....it's a very wealthy Hudson River town with more than its share of  grand estates (Lyndhurst being only one among them), trendy shops and restaurants, and more than one hotel large enough to hold conventions.  The Metro North rail line gets you there from Grand Central Station in Manhattan in about half an hour.  No, it doesn't have the convenience of subways, but once you're in the center of town you can wander about on foot very nicely.  For those who like that sort of thing, tours can be taken of the Rockefeller family estate, and the home of author Washington Irving.  And of course, there's always the Old Dutch Church, and Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.....where you might run into that fellow with the pumpkin under his arm.......

I know none of this makes it any less annoying for the West Coast fans who hoped the festival would return to them......but I suppose an inconvenient festival is better than no festival at all.

[Debra]

I have never been to a DS fest before and since I live in upstate NewYork,  Tarrytown would be pretty  convienent for me to attend.  Another good thing would be my cousins live there.  I havent been to visit in years but maybe now is a good time to start.  I also would like to judge the distance back & forth too.
(Cassandra, you live pretty close to Tarrytown, dont you?)   How far is it fromwhere you are?

I hope they just have it again somewhere.  I would hate to not to be able to attend at least one in my life.

Deb

[victoriawinters]

--- From the DS Festival: The next Fest-Hosted Event is being planned for Summer 2004..... Shadowgram #100

In the 2002 program book in the back, there is an announcement of dates (which later changed) and a specific location for this year's fest.  This year we have nothing in the program and unspecified dates and what seemed like it at the banquet, an afterthought as to 2004 location, i.e., Tarrytown.

What is really going on is anyone's guess.  I thought I heard Marcy say Southern California at her talk on Saturday but without reviewing the video or speaking to her personally, I cannot confirm the statement.  I have a note in my notes with no carrots but it could be wishful thinking on my part or Jim had not spoken to Marcy about the true deal.   Miscommunications or no communication happens in the best of circumstances in the best of organizations.

I do believe though that some proactive steps can be taken.  One, let's all write again to Pansy Faye at pansyfaye@darkshadowsfestivals.com in a real nice and professional manner.  Writing to her in negative or hostile tones will not get the e-mail forwarded to Jim Pierson.  He did assure us that the e-mail does get forwarded.  But, I'm sure she is a screener that one.

Next, feel free to join the DS Fan Fair.  We are planning to prepare some surveys, etc. to send to the DS Fest so they hear our feedback in a constructive and organized manner.  It makes a big difference if someone is sending me a pile of e-mails which I must tabulate or someone has sent me already tabulated data.  I would pay attention more to the tabulated data then the raw unorganized stack.  We will also be engaging in letter/e-mail writing campaigns.  Again in nice, nice ways to be heard.

Finally, all of you California fans are invited to join the So. California Dark Shadows Club.  Last year, we organized a group to see David Selby in Mame.  This year, we are hoping to get in to see Chris Pennock in his Actor's Studio play if I can pull off getting us some invitations.  (As I have recently discovered, a very posh type of invitation.)  Donna McKechnie is also returning for an engagement in 2004.  The Annual Holiday Party is slated on December 13, 2003.

What a thrill it was not to have to wait in a 1,000 person line for a David Selby hug or autograph!  I also got a nifty fan badge which I wore at the 2003 Fest.  Here is the clickable to join the e-mail list for this group, Shadows in the Sun.  Not to worry, you won't be overwhelmed with e-mail by this group.  It's mostly just for the announcements and business of the group.

At this point, California fans should not despair.  We are still having a fest based on all reports I heard at the 2003 event.  (Marcy mentioned this many times during the course of the fest.  Further, KLS put Jim Pierson on the spot during the cast reunion.)

I believe they are having a shake-up at headquarters in revising the Fest format.   This is my business bat-sense reaction to this lack of forward planning on the organizer's part.  Not a usual move with a successful annual event to say the least.  Is it the end of the world for California?  (I seriously doubt it.)  Stay tuned to your Dark Shadows news bat channel.  I have a feeling this year will be a bumpy one and I for one will be fastening my seatbelt. 

[Julia99]

Given the **weirdness** that has been coming out of the side of folks mouths this year, i think we should be grateful they are doing anything. . .i really think there was an intention to end it until 1) 2000 people showed up this year and 2) KLS did put JP on the spot,on-stage. .

[jennifer]

i'm glad something in going to be on the east (sorry guys)
as this year is was changed for us and i could not go.
as Nancy has said before they have to go where the interest
and stars can go. i have never been to a fest would love to see one in NE
but don't think that'll ever happen. i quess we just have to be glad that
something is happening and hope Sci Fi doesn't cancel as they seem
to be preempting a lot lately!

take care and hope something works out!

jennifer

[Birdie]

Also a New England fan, Tarrytown works for me depending on when they hold the fest.  I would be the one who would be interested in the other tours in the area.  Jennifer I think it would only be about three hours from Ma.

Birdie

[Midnite]

One, let's all write again to Pansy Faye at pansyfaye@darkshadowsfestivals.com in a real nice and professional manner.

I don't think that's a working domain.  Anyway, the addy I've used is pansyfaye@darkshadowsfestival.com .

[ClaudeNorth]

I like the idea of a Tarrytown Fest, although I can understand the disappointment of those fans living on or near the West Coast.  I guess the choice of Tarrytown, rather than sticking to the alternating coast format, is part of the attempt to do something different, although I wonder just how "different" a Fest held in Tarrytown would be.  Wouldn't a DS Fest, by its very nature, have to include a certain amount of DS-related content?

Hopefully, by the end of the year, we'll be given some concrete details regarding future Fest events.

[Stuart]

i really think there was an intention to end it until 1) 2000 people showed up this year and 2) KLS did put JP on the spot,on-stage. .

The Tarrytown jaunt was being planned before this year's Festival took place -- I think the "final" status was u-turned pretty much immediately... I don't think it was coincidence that the words "final" and "farewell" were nowhere to be found in the weekend's program book