G-Fest
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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 1,400-seat Pickwick Theatre. G-Fest is presently held in Rosemont, Illinois, at the Crowne Plaza 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.
Convention | Location | Guests | Screenings | MSA recipient(s) | Notes | |||
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Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |||||
Friends of G-FAN[note 1] (September 3-4, 1994) |
Howard Johnson Addison O'Hare Airport, Addison, Illinois |
N/A | N/A |
| ||||
G-Con '95[note 2] (August 18-20, 1995) |
Radisson Hotel, Arlington Heights, Illinois |
N/A | N/A | N/A |
| |||
G-Con '96[note 3] (August 16-18, 1996) |
Radisson Hotel, Arlington Heights, Illinois |
|
N/A | |||||
G-Fest '97 (August 1-3, 1997) |
Wyndham Hotel, Chicago, Illinois |
|
N/A | |||||
G-Fest '98 (July 31-August 8, 1998) |
Wyndham Hotel, Chicago, Illinois |
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N/A | 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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
N/A | ||||
G-Fest '01 (July 13–15, 2001) |
Radisson Hotel, Arlington Heights, Illinois |
|
N/A |
|
G-Fest '02
- Location: Radisson Hotel in Arlington Heights, Illinois
- Dates: July 12–14, 2002
- Guests: Koichi Kawakita, Hurricane Ryu Hariken, Robert Scott Field
- Friday Screenings: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion
- Saturday Screening: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus
- Mangled Skyscraper Award Recipient: Stan G. Hyde
G-Fest X
- Location: Radisson Hotel in Arlington Heights, Illinois
- Dates: July 18–20, 2003
- Guests: Noriaki Yuasa, Carl Craig, Yoshikazu Ishii, Robert Scott Field
- Friday Screenings: Battle in Outer Space, Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris
- Saturday Screening: Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
- Mangled Skyscraper Award Recipient: Noriaki Yuasa
G-Fest XI
- Location: Holiday Inn O’Hare International Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois
- Dates: July 9–11, 2004
- Guests: Teruyoshi Nakano, Robert Scott Field, Brian Thomas
- Friday Screenings: Invasion of Astro-Monster and Terror of Mechagodzilla
- Saturday Screening: Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.
- Mangled Skyscraper Award Recipient: Teruyoshi Nakano
G-Fest XII
- Location: Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois
- Dates: July 8–10, 2005
- Guests: Yoshimitsu Banno, Yoshikazu Ishii, Robert Scott Field, Carl Craig, Robert Conte
- Friday Screenings: H-Man, Godzilla vs. Hedorah
- Saturday Screening: Godzilla: Final Wars
- Mangled Skyscraper Award Recipient: Yoshikazu Ishii
G-Fest XIII
- Location: Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois
- Dates: July 7–9, 2006
- Guests: Kazuki Omori, Robert Scott Field, Yoshikazu Ishii
- Friday Screening: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
- Saturday Screenings: Negadon: The Monster from Mars, Gamera the Brave
- Mangled Skyscraper Award presented to: Robert Scott Field
G-Fest XIV
- Location: Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois
- Dates: July 6–8, 2007
- Guests: Rhodes Reason, Shelley Sweeney, Robert Scott Field, Don Glut
- Saturday Afternoon Concert Performed by: Rieko Wada, Tomomi Matsumura, Shetoshi Yamada, Marcus Dunleavy
- Friday Screening: King Kong Escapes
- Saturday Screening: King Kong vs. Godzilla
- Mangled Skyscraper Award presented to: Don Glut
G-Fest XV
- Location: Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois
- Dates: July 4–6, 2008
- Guests: Haruo Nakajima, Don Frye, Robert Scott Field
- Thursday Screenings: Matango, Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla vs. Gigan, Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon
- Friday Screening: Godzilla vs. Biollante
- Saturday Screening: Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla
- Mangled Skyscraper Award Recipient: Haruo Nakajima
G-Fest XVI
- Location: Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois
- Dates: July 3–5, 2009
- Guests: Kenji Sahara, Robert Scott Field, August Ragone, David Kalat
- Thursday Screenings: Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
- Friday Screening: The Mysterians
- Saturday Screenings: Mothra vs. Godzilla, Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit
- Mangled Skyscraper Award Recipient: Kenji Sahara
G-Fest XVII
- Location: Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois
- Dates: July 9–11, 2010
- Guests: Akira Takarada, Bob Eggleton, Robert Scott Field, William M. Tsutsui, David Kalat, Damon Foster
- Thursday Screening: Son of Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Mothra, Godzilla 2000: Millennium, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus
- Friday Screening: Ebirah, Horror of the Deep
- Saturday Screening: Godzilla (1954)
- Mangled Skyscraper Award Recipient: Akira Takarada
G-Fest XVIII
- Location: Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois
- Dates: July 15–17, 2011
- Guests: Hiroyuki Watanabe, Shinji Higuchi, Hiroshi Sagae, Robert Scott Field, August Ragone
- Thursday Screenings: Gamera: Super Monster, Mothra, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Gamera: Guardian of the Universe
- Friday Screening: Ultraman Gaia: The Battle in Hyperspace
- Saturday Screening: Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion
- Mangled Skyscraper Award Recipient: Shinji Higuchi
G-Fest XIX
- Location: Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois
- Dates: July 13-15, 2012
- Guests: Akira Takarada, Bin Furuya, Robert Scott Field, Svengoolie
- Thursday Screening: King Kong (1933), The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Gorgo, Gamera
- Friday Screening: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!
- Saturday Screening: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
- Mangled Skyscraper Award Recipient: Bin Furuya
G-Fest XX
- Location: Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois
- Dates: July 12-14, 2013
- Guests: Tsutomu Kitagawa, Shinichi Wakasa, Shizuo Nakajima, Robert Scott Field, Frank H Woodward, Cleve Hall
- Thursday Screenings: 20 Million Miles to Earth, Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris, Gamera vs. Gyaos, The X from Outer Space, Pacific Rim (midnight premiere)
- Friday Screening: Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla
- Saturday Screening: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus
- Mangled Skyscraper Award Recipient: Shinichi Wakasa
G-Fest XXI
- Location: Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois
- Dates: July 11-13, 2014
- Guests: Koichi Kawakita, Tomoko Ai, Katsuhiko Sasaki, Hiroshi Sagae, Don Frye, Robert Scott Field, Shinpei Hayashiya
- Thursday Screenings: King Kong (1976), King Kong Lives, Gamera vs. Barugon, Yongary, Monster from the Deep
- Friday Screening: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
- Saturday Screening: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
- Mangled Skyscraper Award Recipient: Bob Eggleton
G-Fest XXII
- Location: Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois
- Dates: July 10-12, 2015
- Guests: Masaaki Tezuka, Noboru Kaneko, August Ragone, Robert Scott Field, Kow Otani
- Thursday Screenings: Them!, The Deadly Mantis, Gamera vs. Jiger, Gamera: Guardian of the Universe
- Friday Screening: Godzilla vs. Biollante
- Saturday Screening: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus
- Mangled Skyscraper Award Recipient: Masaaki Tezuka
G-Fest XXIII
- Location: Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois
- Dates: July 15-17, 2016
- Guests: Akira Takarada, Linda Miller, Bin Furuya, Hiroko Sakurai, Robert Scott Field, August Ragone, Yoshikazu Ishii, Hiroshi Sagae, Carl Craig, Sojiro Uchino, Tony Isabella
- Thursday Screenings: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, Gamera vs. Viras, Yongary, Monster from the Deep, The Green Slime
- Friday Screening: Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy
- Saturday Screening: King Kong Escapes
- Mangled Skyscraper Award Recipient: Hiroko Sakurai
G-Fest XXIV (Shin G-Fest)
- Location: Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois
- Dates: July 14-16, 2017
- Guests: Michiru Oshima, Yuji Kaida, Shinji Higuchi, Ryuki Kitaoka, Kazuhiro Nakagawa, Kiyotaka Taguchi, Robert Scott Field, Tony Isabella
- Thursday Screenings: King Kong vs. Godzilla, D-War, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, Godzilla (2014)
- Friday Screening: Kong: Skull Island
- Saturday Screening: Shin Godzilla
- Mangled Skyscraper Award Recipient: Michiru Oshima
G-Fest XXV
- Location: Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois
- Dates: July 13-15, 2018
- Guests: Megumi Odaka, Kenpachiro Satsuma, Keizo Murase, Don Frye, Gene Rizzardi, Robert Scott Field
- Thursday Screenings: Valley of Gwangi, Dinosaurus!, The Mighty Peking Man, Pacific Rim Uprising
- Friday Screening: Rampage
- Saturday Screening: Godzilla vs. Mothra
- Mangled Skyscraper Award Recipient: Megumi Odaka, Kenpachiro Satsuma, Keizo Murase
G-Fest XXVI
- Location: Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois
- Dates: July 12-14, 2019
- Guests: Akira Takarada, Shusuke Kaneko, Peggy Neal, Yoshikazu Ishii, Takuji Yamada, Sonoe Nakajima, Philo Barnhart, Tony Isabella
- Thursday Screenings: All Monsters Attack, Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, The X from Outer Space, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
- Friday Screening: Godzilla: King of the Monsters
- Saturday Screening: Invasion of Astro-Monster
- Mangled Skyscraper Award Recipient: Shusuke Kaneko
G-Fest XXVII
- Location: Hyatt Regency O'Hare Chicago in Rosemont, Illinois
- Dates: July 9-11, 2021
- Guests: To be announced
- Screenings: To be announced
- Mangled Skyscraper Award Recipient: To be announced
- Note: Originally scheduled for July 10-12, 2020, at the Crowne Plaza. Hiroyuki Kawase and Brian Rogers were announced as guests before the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gallery
Posters
External links
- Official site for G-Fan and G-Fest
- 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
Notes
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