Blobfest returns to its ‘normal’ self and a Chester County town rejoices

The Tin Foil Hat Contest was a hoot. The Blob Ball rocked. And, at the appointed hour, hundreds of horror and sci-fi fans, many sporting ’50s fashions and alien gear, fled the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, as if an oozing space monster was actually hot on their tails.

Blobfest is back!

After a two-year COVID hiatus, the 23rd annual, three-day celebration of the 1958 science-fiction horror movie The Blob — filmed in Phoenixville’s historic gem of a theater and nearby locales — has once again taken over this revitalized river town with festivities, including Blob 5K and 10K street races and a double feature of The Blob and The Man From Planet X set for Sunday at the Colonial.

And while fans of the campy classic never did allow a pandemic to bring down the curtain on their fun — virtual events were held the last two years — on Saturday festivalgoers, residents, and business owners said the return of a celebration dedicated to Chester County’s most famous alien invader seemed to hold a little more meaning. A sense of normalcy — or as normal as Blobfest can be, at least — had returned.

“Everyone is so excited it’s back in person,” said Jennifer Carlson, executive director of the nonprofit that operates the Colonial Theatre and Blobfest. “People just want to get out and have fun. There’s so much pent-up energy and excitement for Blobfest. And you can really feel that here in Phoenixville.”

In the cult hit — starring Steve McQueen in his first leading role, as teenage hero Steve Andrews, and Aneta Corsaut, as his lovers’ lane sweetheart — the fictional townsfolk eventually rallied to drive away a blob of unknown origin, just not before it killed the town doctor and oozed through a midnight showing at the Colonial, by far its most iconic scene.

And on Saturday, nearly all of Phoenixville’s now-thriving downtown district took part in Blobfest, an annual event that attracts film buffs and sci-fi fans from all over, and that many in the once-flagging steel town say played a role in the community’s revitalization.

“We’re affectionately known as ‘The home of the Blob,’” Carlson said. “We started this Blobfest years ago and it’s just grown and grown, and it’s a real claim to fame.”

Indeed, the Blob was everywhere.

At Root Down Brewery, one of the many trendy brew pubs and restaurants that have made Phoenixville a dining destination, there was “Blob Beer” (”slightly tart, very sweet,” said the bartender). Bridge Street Chocolates offered “Blob Chocolates” (white and dark chocolate, pistachios and pretzels, all rolled up to look like the Blob, of course). Your Mama’s Place breakfast spot served stacks of Blob Cakes (pancakes made with red food coloring and topped with Cool Whip and Marshmallow Fluff) and a What About the Blob Pizza (a spicy dish with roasted reds).

Despite a steady morning rain, costumed crowds poured through the fair spread along Bridge Street, where vendors sold creepy dolls, vintage wares, and rare VHS tapes — and Dibbs Preston & the Detonators played 1950s rockabilly tunes.

The Gavetti family from Collegeville were in Blob heaven. Michael Gavetti, a psychologist at Norristown State Hospital, brings daughter Lena, 15, and son Viktor, 13, to Blobfest every year to catch the double features and to do their Christmas shopping. Yes, Christmas shopping. The kids are as hooked as he is.

“It’s always the height of my summer,” said Lena Gavetti, showing off a pin she found from Sylvester Stallone’s 1975 sci-fi flick, Death Race 2000. “It’s everything I want in movies in one place.”

Soon, the rain eased, and crowds gathered in front of the Colonial — which first opened as a vaudeville and opera house in 1903 — for the Fire Extinguisher Parade, a Blobfest highlight, where costumed reenactors spray an inflatable Blob. (Cold is the Blob’s one weakness.) Stephanie Vogel, a Phoenixville native, crowned Mx. Blobfest Universe 2022, and Chuck Francisco, who plays intrepid reporter Dash Daring, in the Blobfest variety show, led the parade.

For his part, Francisco, 40, an outreach specialist at Villanova University, who offers free Blob-related tours of the Colonial, says that what he loves most about Blobfest is the sense of fun and community he finds there. Especially now.

“Sometimes it becomes more important than other times just to lose yourself in a horror movie,” he said. “Because you can leave when the credits roll.”