Gradually, a lot of the fan activities that were mainstays of the earlier years went away. There used to filksongs, art and photography contests (with an art room), storyfests where fans worked from an opening paragraph to complete a DS story, panels to discuss DS storylines and probably several other activities that I'm leaving out. The last two activities to fall by the wayside were the costume gala and the skits. The scaling back from a three day weekend to a day and quarter left precious little time for much of anything. Basically, the festival had turned into an autograph line. Not that there is anything wrong with that. That's what Chiller Theatre and most other fan events are. But the festival used to be better. At least it tried to be.
Fans can go once, meet the actors and get their autographs but is their any real incentive to go back and repeat the experience the following year?
And, as more and more fans reach retirement age, the amount of disposable income simply isn't there any more. An expensive weekend, involving an airfare, a hotel stay and other expenses is no longer as affordable as it once was. Some may choose to spend the time with children or grandchildren. Others may well have medical expenses that take top priority.
I have no idea if this event in Tarrytown will happen or not. But at some point, there won't be any more DS events period.
