WILMINGTON — This year marks the 25th anniversary of the premier of popular teen drama Dawson’s Creek and a fan group is celebrating in the Cape Fear region with special guests.
The Fan Fest Society will host a festival May 4 and 5 to include cast panels, meet and greets, photo ops, cosplay, trivia, live music and other thematic activities.
To date, the event has confirmed several cast members, welcoming fan favorites (in order of confirmation): Kerr Smith (Jack McPhee), Nina Repeta (Bess Potter) Dylan Neal (Doug Witter), Hal Ozsan (Todd Carr), Mark Matkevich (Drue Valentine) and Gareth Williams (Mike Potter). Additional cast and crew to be announced over the coming weeks.
According to a release from Fan Fest Society, this marks the first organized event in Wilmington celebrating the show.
“Our town has regularly welcomed unguided visitors posing for pictures at various landmarks seen throughout the show, but this event, for fans of Dawson’s Creek, will be a first here,” Wilmington & Beaches Convention and Visitors Bureau VP of sales and service John Sneed said in the release. “I’m confident the response to our coastal city will be overwhelmingly positive for fans of show.”
The Fan Fest Society launched in 2016 and has hosted other similar events nationwide with thousands in attendance.
“In 1998, I would have absolutely swooned over a fan festival like this in Wilmington; 25 years later the nostalgia will make it even more magical,” Fan Fest Society co-founder Jennie Whitaker said in the release. “When we decided to launch another fandom event, Dawson’s Creek was at the top of the list. This kind of fan-created, fan-led, fan fest isn’t meant to recreate the show, it’s meant to recreate the feeling, to bring people together to share memories and talk about how it affected them then, and now.”
Dawson’s Creek aired on WB from 1998 to 2003 and centered around four friends in a small coastal town helping each other cope with adolescence. It featured James Van Der Beek (Dawson Leery), Katie Homles (Joey Potter), Michelle Williams (Jen Lindley) and Joshua Jackson (Pacey Witter).
“Wilmington’s unique character and abundant charm makes it easy to see why so many productions have filmed here in recent years,” Sneed said. “This will be a wonderful opportunity for our town to welcome visitors and reminisce on years of Dawson’s Creek cast and crew filled our streets and occupied our east coast town for the idyllic setting of their show.”
Tickets are on sale now and are in limited supply. For additional details or to purchase a ticket, visit the Fan Society website.
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