Twin Peaks fans from around the world descended on Fayetteville, Arkansas for the inaugural Fayetteville Comic Show on February 29 – March 1, 2020. Upon hearing that several stars from the show, including Sheryl Lee, James Marshall, Eric Da Re and others, were attending, I booked a flight. While many fellow Bookhouse Boys and Gals and I originally questioned the destination, I quickly realized that Twin Peaks transcends place. This five-day trip was filled with damn fine memories from the best fan community in the world. Here’s a recap of Day 1 festivities.
DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3
BOOKING TICKETS
I booked my tickets to the Fayetteville Comic Show on July 27, 2019.
At the time, this was the only event that seemed close to the actual 30th Anniversary of the Pilot Episode on April 8, 1990 (Side note – there is now an official event in Memphis, Tennessee from April 3-5 Sadly this event never happened) . Naturally, I selected the VIP package – Red Room with Movie Ticket that included:
- One [1] Movie Pass (movie – FEB 29) to be picked up at Will Call
- One 2-Day Red Room VIP Badge with Lanyard
- Fayetteville AR Comic Show String Bag
- 11×17 Exclusive Print
- One Red Room Tshirt Ticket – redeemable at Fayar Merchandise Booth
- 3 Line Jumps
- VIP Panel Seating
ARRIVAL
My last visit to Arkansas was in 2002 where I stayed in Little Rock during a business trip. While I visited other small towns in the state, this would be my first trip to Fayetteville.
Located in Washington County on the outskirts of the Boston Mountains, the town is the third-largest city in the state and is home to the University of Arkansas.
Originally named Washington until 1829, Postmaster General William T. Barry changed the name that year to avoid confusion with a similarly named town in Heampstead County. According to Encyclopedia of Arkansas, two commissioners “locating the county seat came from Fayetteville, Tennessee, and urged Barry to name it after that community.” The town was incorporated on November 3, 1836 and rechartered in 1867.
After landing at Northwest Regional Airport on Thursday, February 27, I stumbled upon a giant chessboard. Since chess plays an important role in the second season of Twin Peaks, I took this as a good sign.
DEVIL’S DEN STATE PARK
Being lover of nature, I immediately set out for the woods after leaving the airport. My first stop was Devil’s Den State Park located in Winslow, Arkansas, nestled in Lee Creek Valley.
Selected as a state park site in the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a work relief program for environmental projects during the Great Depression, built many of the park’s wood and stone structures using native materials.
A manmade dam provided some pretty dramatic waterfall images. Today, the park is one of the most intact CCC sites in the United States.
The state park also contained several caves which were unfortunately closed due to a sickness plaguing their bat population. I would have loved to descend into a cool subterranean cave.
Instead, I hiked the 1.5-mile Devil’s Den trail where I was greeted with spectacular waterfalls and barren trees.
HOW’S ANNIE?
On the way back from Winslow, I passed through the town of Blackburn. I really wanted to scream “How’s Annie?” as Blackburn was her last name. Yet another random Twin Peaks connection.
UNEXPECTED OWL
Upon arriving in downtown Fayetteville, I was shocked to find a gigantic owl mural on the side of an old building. Completed on September 7, 2016, Puetro Rican artist Alexis Diaz added this mural to the side of the former Mountain Inn building as part of the Unexpected Project.
Diaz was one of several artists who participated in the week-long, street art festival by adding beautiful murals throughout the city.
You can follow his work on his Instagram account – @Alexis_Diaz. He even recently shared an image of the owl within the past week. Interestingly, the original mural did not contain exposed brick that is currently found on the image.
I don’t believe Mr. Diaz knew this owl would eventually become an important symbol for our Twin Peaks group this weekend. More on that in another article.
DAMGOODE PIES
The owl mural is found on the side of the building that also houses Damgoode Pies. This pizza joint (Fayetteville loves their pizza) was originally started in Little Rock but expanded to Fayetteville in 2009. To kick off the weekend’s festivities, a small gathering was organized by Donna Joseph and Paul Wilkett, who also organized the Fayetteville Comic Show.
Arriving shortly after 6:30 on Friday night, I was greeted by a “Welcome to Twin Peaks” sign hanging on the front of the red door [insert Dougie Jones voice].
Damgoode seemed like the perfect place to hold this gathering as their dining room offered plenty of space for Twin Peaks fans from around the world to unite. They also had the right amount of humor sprinkled throughout the space to match my outlook on life.
They also had $1.00 cans of PABST BLUE RIBBON! Frank Booth would have died and gone to heaven.
In addition to PBR, Damgoode Pies also created specially themed drink specials including The Blue Rose. I wish I could tell you about it but I can’t (mostly because it was a PBR night for me).
Donna and Paul stopped by the event to welcome us to town and thanked us for attending. You could tell how grateful they were to see so many faces from around the world. We were just as thankful for their efforts in creating the event.
The Twin Peaks gathering reminded me of the Studio 35 event in Columbus, Ohio and Festival of Disruption 2018 in Brooklyn, New York. There were many folks whom I’d only know as a social media handle. Putting a face to a name was a delight!
I mean even the Mayor of Twin Peaks, Karl Reinsch, attended! And Wim traveled from the Netherlands. Incredible to have some people from all over in Fayetteville.
AFTER PARTY AT GRADUATE
The Graduate in Fayetteville was home to several parties and panel discussions. The lobby bar became a popular spot to hang out. Not only did fans stop by for conversation and beverages, several Twin Peaks stars dropped by too.
Just look at this couch! The lobby was full of these kitschy designs.
It was wonderful to see @Greatwoods_DCW again at the event. The last time we hung out was in Brooklyn for Festival of Disruption which turned out to be a fantastic event. This was yet another good sign the “Fayettechill” weekend would be amazing.
More owls were at the Graduate include this outstanding leather handbag.
At some point, dogs showed up to the bar. This one named Bruno climbed on my lap. What you don’t see is Charlotte Stewart sitting next to me holding another dog. Surreal!
Loved picking out the handmade business cards for There’s a Podcast Alright (follow them on Twitter).
After a day of festivities, I definitely had Twin Peaks on the brain.
