Hey gang!
I have big news! Based on the high demand, we changed the format of Jerseyfest 2012 to not include the food, pre-registering and prepaying and to instead follow the format of a traditional show like the great Wonderfest.
A long time in the making, I am thrilled to announce the 2012 "Jerseyfest Model Kit & Statue Fair". Our goal is to make this a major show that will attract people from across the globe, and 2012 is our first giant step. The show will include participation from many of the hobby's greatest contributors. Attendees pay $10 admission at the door.
While the main focus is of course on kits and our great hobby, Jerseyfest will continue to be a hybrid show that aims to please hobbyists as well as statue/pre-paint collectors. It will also have fine art for display and sale, such as works from renowned artists like Ken Kelly and Daniel Horne.
Our web site is still in development, but I decided to announce highlights to all of you so you can get a preview of what's to come. I know I am leaving out details in this post, so please hang in there for the remaining information, which will be announced on the web site when it launches soon. O.K., here is the scoop...
The Dates & Location:
Friday, August, 3rd: An all day event starting with painting seminars followed by a painting class for all levels. It will include students getting and painting a life-sized "Curse of the Werewolf" resin bust from Black Heart Enterprises. Seminars to be conducted by AFM’s Rick Cantu and Steve Parke and the class to be conducted by Saul Alvarez and Jim Capone. We will all be partying right after at night ! I don't have the final cost number yet, but it will be very low for what you're getting.
Location: Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey (near Princeton) - a beautiful, air conditioned, campus and professional building complex.
Saturday, August 4th: Is the main event and vendor show - $10 admission at the door. We will have about 60 vendor tables. The show will include demos all day/night and a very large display of buildups, including many from the top artists in the hobby. There will be a contest.
Location: Rider University.
We are not doing Sunday for the first year since we know that a young show like this usually has a low turnout on Sundays and is not worthwhile for vendors, which is the consensus we have been getting from almost everyone.
As for Saturday, 47 vendor tables are already accounted for and we are not even out of the gate yet with the full announcement and promotion. Scheduled vendors include:
Alternative Images
Amazing Figure Modeler
Badger Air-Brush Co.
Best Comics (Biggest Bowen Distributor & Dealer in the USA)
Black Heart Enterprises
Creative Beast – David Silva
Cretaceous Creations
Dark Carnival / Needful Things
Daniel Horne's Monster Show (Fine Art Paintings/Prints & Sculpts)
Dead End Resin
Devils Own Resin
Forbidden Zone
Gabe Perna Kits
Garage Kits .US
Geometric Design
Hand of Doom Collectibles (Biggest Sideshow Collectibles & Hot Toys Dealer in the USA)
Headless Hearseman
Idle Hands Hobbies (featuring H&S airbrushes)
Kaiju Modeler
Jason Spyda Adams
Ken Kelley
Pedatorstuff.com
Resin Crypt
Ray Santoleri Kits
Resin in Motion
Resin Pimps
Sassy Satellite
Silent Screen Classics
Smooth On
Spider Sue Studios
Stann Arts Kits
Three Kings Resin Kits
The Creature Lab (Jim Deming)
Tony Cipriano and his "Sculpture Exhibit"
Mark Vantine
And more!
As you can see, many of the top dealers who attend Wonderfest will be there. I hope you are as impressed as I am about this vendor list, plus there is more to come!
Painting & sculpting demos throughout the vendor show on Saturday by the following super talents: Fred Delvecchio, Rick Cantu, Steve Parke, Ray Santoleri, Tony Cipriano and Mark Vantine. Will include demos on painting a Frankenstein, Creature/Gillman, Godzilla, and more. We will also have a “Jerseyfest Hobby Forum” where great contributors to the hobby will address questions about the hobby’s past, present and future, which will include George Stephenson of Black Heart Enterprises Models, Robb Rotondi of Dark Carnival / Needful Things, Saul Alvarez, Scott Kelly of Alternative Images, Steve Parke, Terry Webb of Amazing Figure Modeler Magazine, and Mark Vantine.
The amount, type and quality of space we have for the events are fantastic. When you add up all the space, we have about 10,000 square feet, including one very big auditorium room (6600 sq. ft.), 2 classroom areas, and 2 lounge areas. Here are a couple of pictures:
Note that there are many hotels/motels close to Rider University, including ones that are within 1 mile. However, we are encouraging people to stay at the Hyatt Place Princeton Hotel so we can socialize together in between show events. We will have a room block with a discounted rate. The Hyatt provides FREE shuttle service that can transport hotel guests between the hotel and Rider University, which is only a 5 minute drive. Guests can call to schedule a shuttle, which does pickups/drop offs every half hour at any location within 5 miles radius of the hotel. The Hyatt gives you free breakfast and is a short walk to great restaurants, bars, a shopping mall and movie theatre – so it’s perfect for partying! :-). Also, Newark Airport has a train stop right in the airport that takes you to the Princeton train stop. This station is 10 minutes away from the Hyatt and the hotel shuttle can pick you up from there for free.
Sorry it took so long to get this information out, but we have been doing lots of planning and preparing to make it a great show. We hope you will consider attending. Maybe you folks from out of town can visit New York City or the Six Flags Amusement Park while you're in the area and make a little vacation out of it?
I can be contacted at
jerseyfestfair@verizon.net. Web Site coming soon!
Thank you !
Dave
