UFO Magazine, New York City’s Pioneer Theater, and the New York Chapter of the National Space Society are co-sponsoring “UFOs: The Culture of Contact (1947-2007)” the weekend of 22-24 June 2007. They expect it to be their first annual multimedia festival, and they’ll be offering movies, panel discussions, an art show, concerts, and perhaps more.
Quoting their publicity: “Since the famous seminal Kenneth Arnold pilot sighting of nine crescent-shaped skycraft on 24 June 1947 at Mount Rainier in Washington state when a reporter created the catchall phrase ‘Flying Saucers,’ setting off a global sensation, and the huge number of other flying saucer reports during that summer 60 years ago captivating public wonderment, UFOs have influenced human behavior, creativty and entertainment, in nearly every aspect of human culture in myriad ways. This first annual NYC UFO Festival, under the collective leadership of empowered close encounter witnesses and educators, will consist of a series of multi-media events including film, art, music, art, and theater.”
Scheduled films, which will be shown at the Pioneer Theater on East 3rd Street (east of Avenue A) include:
* Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) on 22 June. It will be introduced by journalist/writers Farah Yurdozu and Harold Egeln (who are two of the festival organizers), and UFO Magazine Publisher Bill Birnes will speak after the movie.
* The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) on 23 June. It will be followed by a discussion with Michael Mannion and Trish Corbett of The Mindshift Insitute.
* The War of the Worlds (1938 radio show) on 23 June. The Mercury Theater CBS radio broadcast will be introduced by author/writer/filmmaker Jeremy Vaeni, a festival organizer.
* Starman (1984) on 23 June, which will be followed by discussion with Budd Hopkins and a UFO Abudctee panel.
The art show will be held at “The Secret School” (location to be announced) 23-24 June. Participating artists include:
* David Huggins
* John Sheldon
* Ionel Talpazan
* The Combustive Automotive Corporation
* Salvador Rossillo
* Marcus Boas
* David Twidle
* Jeff Schectmann
They haven’t yet set the venue, but there’s a significant list of musicians, bands, and performance artists already on the schedule, including:
* Michael Luckman
* Alan White
* The Violets
* Marcy Gordon & Bryan-David Kee
* Aloid & The Interplanetary Invasion
* Roy Orbit
* Maria Cuccia
* Craig Silver, “The Space Troubadour”
* Jason O’Connell
* Kara Lynn Vaeni
* Masahiro Kahata
* Andre van Pier
More information, and updates as the festival draws near, should be available at this link.