Earlier this month, New Milford hosted its first Gilmore Girls fan festival.
Fans spent one weekend in Stars Hollow, the fictional Connecticut town where the show takes place. With its small square, picturesque gazebo, and cozy little shops, walking around New Milford really gives the impression of being on the set of Gilmore Girls.
At the event, fans got the chance to prove their knowledge on the show in the Stars Hollow trivia, vote for who’s the best boyfriend for Rory, and walk into the many little shops that added special themed items just for the occasion. And people came from all over the place to attend the event.
“We have people from other countries here and come together for something common that they all love, and meet someone and feel like they have been friends with them for years so that people can relate to each other because of that,” said Gina Jasisnki, one of the staff members who coordinated the Knit-A-Thon event.
She said many of the organizers are fans of the show themselves, which is why they decided to launch the new convention in New Milford, one of the towns the show was modeled after.
Actors from the show, such as Scott Patterson, Matt Czuchry, Yanic Truesdale, and Chad Michael Murray, also appeared at the festival.
“And I just think that the actors love it just as much as we do, because they get to see the appreciation that we have for what they have done,” Jasinski said.
Some fans didn’t get to meet the actors personally, get their autographs, or take selfies with them, but everyone got to ask them some questions at the celebrity panel. Maddie from Georgia asked Scott why he thinks people keep returning to the show even years and years later.
“Because it's real, in the sense that it's an elevated reality. You know, these things can happen; they’re probable but not possible. Yet they exist in this show. Also, the humor, forget about it. It's about the funniest, the most clever kind of humor there is,” he answered.
The show aired for the first time in 2000, and 25 years later, fans still love it and rewatch it every year.
“So for me, growing up, my mom and my sister and I used to do Wednesday night Gilmore Girls nights where we would watch episodes of Gilmore Girls while eating tons of junk food,” said Rebecca from Massachusetts. “And that was the trend. And so I grew up watching it every single Wednesday throughout my high school years. And then I introduced it to my husband.”
Some are old fans, some others are new to the show, but everybody has a memory related to it.
Doctor Eric Lindsay drove with his wife and daughter from North Carolina for the weekend.
“And I dressed up as Luke today, and they dressed up as Rory and Lorelai the first day,” Lindsay said. “So she has a Chilton's uniform and everything. So, Yeah. So we're big fans of Gilmore Girls, and we're really excited to be here.”
He said he liked the show even before meeting his wife.
“I started watching it 20 years ago when it came out, and I thought it was just an interesting show,” he said. “It was funny. I did like Rory, Alexis Bledel. I was the same age as her. I had a crush on her when I was like 17. But the show was really good. And I thought Lorelai was cool because her mom drove a Jeep. And I have a Jeep. We're a Jeep family.”
Lindsay adds that the show never gets old.
“I think the themes of the show are really important. You have good wholesome family values, but it also shows the struggles people go through. Lorelai is a single mom trying to raise a daughter and give her everything, and it's harder on her, so she has to rely on her parents even though she doesn't want to, and she has to make friends along the way that help her figure life out and figure out dating and figure out life. So I think those struggles are real, realistic, real-life like. And when people see that they can connect with that and realize, ‘okay, if she survived, I can get through it too.’ So I think that's what brings people from the show together.”
His wife, Marine, said she has a different perspective every time she rewatches.
“I loved it when I was younger, before I had kids and a daughter and everything, or a husband. But I've watched it multiple times as I got older and seen different aspects that I didn't agree with when I was younger. But now I'm like, ‘oh my God, that makes so much sense now that I have kids’. You know, when you first watch it and you're young, you're like ‘oh my God, Emily’s such a hard chef.’ Now that I'm older, I'm like ‘I feel like I'm gonna be here.’ She just wants what's best for her family, even though she can't see that it's not what's best for Lorelai, even though it is for her. So it's interesting as you watch as you get older, too.”
