StarFest Entertainment Convention

April 20-22, 2012 – Denver Tech Center – Denver Colorado

The StarFest convention encompasses all aspects of popular media, film and television. Started in 1977, it attracts thousands of people who are fans of popular culture for a weekend of social interaction, fun and games. Activities include more than 100 events taking place at three different convention hotels during the weekend – including: film studio presentations, onstage Q&A sessions with actors – producers & directors, autograph and photo sessions, costume and talent contests, film festivals, model and art shows, collectible merchandise, educational seminars, discussion panels, kids events, fan club presentations, and assorted Klingons, Jedi and other strange and unusual creatures.

StarFest has grown from a local science fiction convention into a regional celebration of media entertainment. It now encompasses several conventions that take place within the StarFest Convention. HorrorFest, is not-surprisingly devoted to all things horror. The HorrorFest Convention includes its own multi-track programming, guests, performances, and film festival. In 2009 StarFest added the ComicFest Convention with it’s own hotel, activities, guests, collectibles, and yes – comics. All the ComicFest activities in 2012 will take place at the Hyatt Regency and special "ComicFest Only" memberships are available for casual visitors. In 2011 RoboFest was launched as a convention at StarFest just for robot enthusiasts. Dozens of mechanical marvels made their way to Denver for a weekend of interaction, building and fun. 2012 is the year we launch DigiFest. Our newest sub-convention devoted to Digital Arts. DigiFest is designed to encourage education, innovation and interaction amoung those producing entertainment in the new media and fans of the games, movies, shows and various venues for its deployment.

The StarFest Entertainment Convention has hosted a virtual who’s who of Actors, Directors and Producers during its long history including: Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Tobey Maguire, Sean Astin, Patrick Stewart, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Summer Glau, Anthony Michael Hall, Christian Bale, Moon Bloodgood, Jon Lovitz, Harry Shearer, Famke Janssen, Tricia Helfer, Karl Urban, Danny Elfman, Francis Ford Coppola, Tim Burton, Rob Bowman, Michael Piller, Dean Devlin, Frank Marshall, and many more.

A very-brief overview of the convention activities and ticket options

StarFest is all about choices. You can come for just a day if you want to check things out or dive-in with a three-day pass for a completely immersive experience.

Friday
Events start at 6am! MediaFest, our kick-off event, is open to anyone willing to come to the Marriott in costume and be on TV. On hand for the event will be local print, radio and TV reporters ready to interview and visit with you. It’s a great way to start the convention and let everyone know that StarFest has returned to Denver.

Throughout the day we’ll have panels, games and a parade. Events really get going around 5pm when most of our programming rooms open and things really get going. Friday night is our Official Meet and Greet party, where you can rub shoulders with and get to know some of our convention guests over snacks.

Saturday
The biggest day of the convention starts at about 8AM and continues well past Midnight. Because of the multi-track programming at Starfest, there is no way to see and do everything. Many events run simultaneously and you get to pick and choose what you want to do. We work really hard to program events that cater to just about everyone’s taste and interests. It’s very much like an all-you-can-eat buffet, everything looks great, but there is a limit to how much you can eat choose wisely! Most of the movie studio presentations are on Saturday so consult the program schedule carefully, we wouldn’t want you to miss any of the great World Premiere presentations and live presentations!

Sunday
StarFest isn’t like an Auto Show where you can come for one day or a couple of hours and see everything. Sunday’s schedule is completely different than Saturday, lots of guest speakers (different than on Saturday), events and panels. Because a lot of the rush to get autographs is over, you’ll often find the actors that are attending for the weekend are easier to approach and able to spend more time talking to you at their autograph tables. Over-all, Sunday is a great day to take things in and visit some of the venues and events that you couldn’t get to on Saturday.

What’s up with VIP tickets? Camping out for good seats may cause you to miss a lot at the convention. VIP memberships free-up your valuable time to see more stuff. VIP Members get a special express line at Registration and Reserved Seats in the Main Events Room. VIP members don’t have to camp for seats to see their favorite guests.

If you want to experience the entire weekend and all the guests, you should be buying a 3-day membership. You’ll save money by buying a 3-Day ticket. If you go for a VIP 3-Day membership you’ll get the best Main Events Room seats available (just behind our Platinum Members).

Platinum VIP tickets provide you with the ultimate StarFest experience. The VERY BEST seats in our Main Events Room are reserved for Platinum VIP members. You Platinum membership also include merchandise discounts, special giveaways, priority autograph lines and seating seniority at future conventions.

Lodging
Rather than having to lug around all your stuff all weekend and having to worry about getting back and forth every day – why not just get a room and stay at one of the convention hotels?

This year there are more options than ever before. You can book a luxurious room at The Marriott DTC (303.779.1100) with it’s famous Atrium Rooms and parties. Right next door, and the home to the newest StarFest events is the Hilton Garden Inn (303-770-4200). One of the best kept secrets about the Hilton is their great breakfast. This year we’ve moved ComicFest down the block to its new diggs at The Hyatt Regency(800.633.7313). The Regency rooms are quite eligant and most have incredible views of the mountains and Denver’s skyline.

Whatever hotel you choose, you’ll be near the action. There are StarFest events taking place at all three hotels – and convention activities at all three hotels are included in your StarFest membership. We can’t stress enough how much more fun and enjoyable your convention experience becomes when you stay onsite. Please make sure you mention you are coming for StarFest, we’ve negociated special discounted rates at all three hotels to save you money.

Please note: Even if you are just driving to the convention each day, you now have the additional option of taking advantage of the covered parking at the Hyatt Regency.