G-Fest

G-Fest is an annual convention devoted to the kaiju film genre and sponsored by Daikaiju Enterprises, Ltd. It regularly features panels, contests, and screenings of giant monster movies at the 1,000-seat Pickwick Theatre. G-Fest is presently held in Rosemont, Illinois, formerly at the Crowne Plaza O’Hare Hotel, and currently at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare Hotel.

Actors, directors, and special effects technicians who worked on kaiju films in Japan are frequent guests at G-Fest. Since 1999, one guest per year has been honored with the "Mangled Skyscraper Award," sculpted by Gene Rizzardi, for their lasting contributions to the kaiju genre. Consistent features of G-Fest are a Dealers' Room full of kaiju memorabilia, video game tournaments, a 24/7 broadcast of kaiju and tokusatsu content on hotel room television sets, and contests in art, film, modeling, and cosplay. In recent years, it has also introduced a large Artists' Alley and film festival for independent kaiju productions.

G-Fest was founded by G-FAN magazine editor and publisher J. D. Lees, a Canadian high school teacher. Persons assisting Lees in organizing G-Fest include Jeff Horne, Brett Homenick, Armand Vaquer, Stan Hyde, and Dawn McKechnie. Actor Robert Scott Field regularly attends G-Fest as a celebrity guest and translator.

Conventions

Convention	Location	Guests MSA recipient(s)	Screenings				Notes
			Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Friends of G-FAN (September 3-4, 1994)	Howard Johnson Addison O'Hare Airport, Addison, Illinois	N/A	Mothra vs. Godzilla Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II Destroy All Monsters				Small gathering of G-FAN's publisher, editors, and contributors, along with Chicago-area kaiju fans.
G-Con '95 (August 18-20, 1995)	Radisson Hotel, Arlington Heights, Illinois	N/A	N/A				First formal kaiju convention outside of Japan. Opened to the public on the 20th.
G-Con '96 (August 16-18, 1996)	Radisson Hotel, Arlington Heights, Illinois	Kenpachiro Satsuma Haruo Nakajima Guy Mariner Tucker	Mothra Godzilla 1985 Gamera the Guardian of the Universe
G-Fest '97 (August 1-3, 1997)	Wyndham Hotel, Chicago, Illinois	Don Glut Marc Cerasini Bob Eggleton Stuart Galbraith IV David Kalat Steve Ryfle	Godzilla vs. Mothra The Mysterians Latitude Zero Gamera the Guardian of the Universe Gunhed
G-Fest '98 (July 31-August 8, 1998)	Wyndham Hotel, Chicago, Illinois	William Stout Mike Fredericks Yoshikazu Ishii Gene Rizzardi	Destroy All Monsters The Lost World The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms The Valley of Gwangi Super Atragon Gamera the Guardian of the Universe Space Amoeba				Collaboration with The Prehistoric Times, a dinosaur magazine. Four additional movies played on August 1, but their titles are unknown.
G-Fest '99 (July 23-25, 1999)	Hilton Hotel, Burbank, California	Forrest J Ackerman Robert Scott Field Volker Engel Noriaki Yuasa Wataru Mimura Hiroshi Kashiwabara Shusuke Kaneko				Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris	First G-Fest to book a film in a theater, with Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris playing at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles.
G-Fest 2000 (July 14–16, 2000)	Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Los Angeles, California	Koichi Kawakita Kenpachiro Satsuma Haruo Nakajima Noriaki Yuasa Megumi Odaka Keita Amemiya Yuji Sakai Robert Scott Field Sadamasa Arikawa Jerry Ito Mach Fumiake	Godzilla (1954)	Son of Godzilla Godzilla vs. Destoroyah Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey	Rebirth of Mothra 3	N/A
G-Fest '01 (July 13–15, 2001)	Radisson Hotel, Arlington Heights, Illinois	Greg Shoemaker Shinichi Wakasa Bob Eggleton Robert Scott Field	Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II	Godzilla (1954)	Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla	N/A
G-Fest '02 (July 12–14, 2002)	Radisson Hotel, Arlington Heights, Illinois	Stan G. Hyde Koichi Kawakita "Hurricane" Ryu Hariken Robert Scott Field	N/A	Godzilla vs. Destoroyah Gamera 2: Attack of Legion	Godzilla vs. Megaguirus	N/A
G-Fest X (July 18–20, 2003)	Radisson Hotel, Arlington Heights, Illinois	Noriaki Yuasa Carl Craig Yoshikazu Ishii Robert Scott Field	N/A	Battle in Outer Space Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris	Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack	N/A
G-Fest XI (July 9–11, 2004)	Holiday Inn O’Hare International Hotel, Rosemont, Illinois	Teruyoshi Nakano Robert Scott Field Brian Thomas	N/A	Invasion of Astro-Monster Terror of Mechagodzilla	Godzilla: Tokyo SOS	N/A
G-Fest XII (July 8–10, 2005)	Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel, Rosemont, Illinois	Yoshikazu Ishii Yoshimitsu Banno Robert Scott Field Carl Craig Robert Conte	N/A	The H-Man Godzilla vs. Hedorah	Godzilla Final Wars	N/A
G-Fest XIII (July 7–9, 2006)	Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel, Rosemont, Illinois	Robert Scott Field Kazuki Omori Yoshikazu Ishii	N/A	Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah	Negadon: The Monster from Mars Gamera the Brave	N/A
G-Fest XIV (July 6–8, 2007)	Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel, Rosemont, Illinois	Don Glut Rhodes Reason Shelley Sweeney Robert Scott Field	N/A	King Kong Escapes	King Kong vs. Godzilla	N/A
		Saturday performance by: Rieko Wada Tomomi Matsumura Shetoshi Yamada Marcus Dunleavy
G-Fest XV (July 4–6, 2008)	Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel, Rosemont, Illinois	Haruo Nakajima Don Frye Robert Scott Field	Matango Destroy All Monsters Godzilla vs. Gigan Orochi, the Eight- Headed Dragon	Godzilla vs. Biollante	Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla	N/A
G-Fest XVI (July 3–5, 2009)	Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel, Rosemont, Illinois	Kenji Sahara Robert Scott Field August Ragone David Kalat	Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack	The Mysterians	Mothra vs. Godzilla Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit	N/A
G-Fest XVII (July 9–11, 2010)	Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, Illinois	Akira Takarada Bob Eggleton Robert Scott Field William M. Tsutsui David Kalat Damon Foster	Son of Godzilla Godzilla vs. Mothra Godzilla 2000: Millennium Godzilla vs. Megaguirus	Ebirah, Horror of the Deep	Godzilla (1954)	N/A
G-Fest XVIII (July 15–17, 2011)	Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel, Rosemont, Illinois	Shinji Higuchi Hiroyuki Watanabe Hiroshi Sagae Robert Scott Field August Ragone	Gamera Super Monster Mothra Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II Gamera: Guardian of the Universe	Ultraman Gaia: The Battle in Hyperspace	Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion	N/A
G-Fest XIX (July 13-15, 2012)	Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel, Rosemont, Illinois	Bin Furuya Akira Takarada Robert Scott Field Svengoolie	King Kong (1933) The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms Gorgo Gamera the Giant Monster	Godzilla, King of the Monsters!	Godzilla vs. Destoroyah	N/A
G-Fest XX (July 12-14, 2013)	Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel, Rosemont, Illinois	Shinichi Wakasa Tsutomu Kitagawa Shizuo Nakajima Robert Scott Field Frank H Woodward Cleve Hall	20 Million Miles to Earth Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris Gamera vs. Gyaos The X from Outer Space Pacific Rim (midnight premiere)	Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla	Godzilla vs. Megaguirus	N/A
G-Fest XXI (July 11-13, 2014)	Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel, Rosemont, Illinois	Bob Eggleton Koichi Kawakita Tomoko Ai Katsuhiko Sasaki Hiroshi Sagae Don Frye Robert Scott Field Shinpei Hayashiya	King Kong (1976) King Kong Lives Gamera vs. Barugon Yongary, Monster from the Deep	Godzilla vs. Destoroyah	Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah	N/A
G-Fest XXII (July 10-12, 2015)	Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel, Rosemont, Illinois	Masaaki Tezuka Noboru Kaneko August Ragone Robert Scott Field Kow Otani	Them! The Deadly Mantis Gamera vs. Jiger Gamera: Guardian of the Universe	Godzilla vs. Biollante	Godzilla vs. Megaguirus	N/A
G-Fest XXIII (July 15-17, 2016)	Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel, Rosemont, Illinois	Hiroko Sakurai Akira Takarada Linda Miller Bin Furuya Robert Scott Field August Ragone Yoshikazu Ishii Hiroshi Sagae Carl Craig Sojiro Uchino Tony Isabella	Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah Gamera vs. Viras Yonggary, Monster from the Deep The Green Slime	Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy	King Kong Escapes	N/A
G-Fest XXIV: Shin G-Fest (July 14-16, 2017)	Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel, Rosemont, Illinois	Michiru Oshima Yuji Kaida Shinji Higuchi Ryuki Kitaoka Kazuhiro Nakagawa Kiyotaka Taguchi Robert Scott Field Tony Isabella	King Kong vs. Godzilla D-War Godzilla vs. Megaguirus Godzilla (2014)	Kong: Skull Island	Shin Godzilla	N/A
G-Fest XXV (July 13-15, 2018)	Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel, Rosemont, Illinois	Megumi Odaka Kenpachiro Satsuma Keizo Murase Don Frye Gene Rizzardi Robert Scott Field	The Valley of Gwangi Dinosaurus! The Mighty Peking Man Pacific Rim Uprising	Rampage	Godzilla vs. Mothra	N/A
G-Fest XXVI (July 12-14, 2019)	Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel, Rosemont, Illinois	Shusuke Kaneko Akira Takarada Peggy Neal Yoshikazu Ishii Takuji Yamada Sonoe Nakajima Philo Barnhart Tony Isabella	All Monsters Attack Ghidorah, the Three- Headed Monster The X from Outer Space Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack	Godzilla: King of the Monsters	Invasion of Astro-Monster	N/A
G-Fest XXVII (July 15-17, 2022)	Hyatt Regency O'Hare Chicago, Rosemont, Illinois	Tomoko Ai Hiroyuki Kawase Ninsai Kato	Godzilla vs. Hedorah Godzilla vs. Megalon Godzilla (1954) Ebirah, Horror of the Deep	Godzilla vs. Kong	Terror of Mechagodzilla	N/A	Hiroyuki Kawase and Brian Rogers were announced as guests in 2020 before the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally scheduled for July 10-12, 2020, at the Crowne Plaza, then July 9-11, 2021, at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare. Don Frye was also booked as a guest, but forced to cancel his appearance less than a week before the convention due to injury.
G-Fest XXVIII (July 14-16, 2023)	Hyatt Regency O'Hare Chicago, Rosemont, Illinois	TJ Storm Linda Miller Don Frye Yumiko Shaku	Destroy All Monsters GODZILLA (1998) Godzilla Raids Again King Kong Escapes	Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla	Godzilla (2014)	N/A

Gallery

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

External links

• Official site for G-FAN and G-Fest
• Official site for the G-Fest convention
• Offcial Facebook page
• Offcial Twitter page
• Mania Movies coverage of G-Fest 2005
• Photo Coverage of the G-Fest 2006 model show
• A fan's coverage of the 1996 G-Con (before the name was changed to G-Fest)
• A fan's coverage of the 1997 G-Con (before the name was changed to G-Fest)
• Titanosaurus Society of North America Yahoo Groups G-FEST Photo Archives

References

This is a list of references for G-Fest. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: ^[1]

Comments

Showing 61 comments. When commenting, please remain respectful of other users, stay on topic, and avoid role-playing and excessive punctuation. Comments which violate these guidelines may be removed by administrators.

Loading comments...