'Gilmore Girls'-Inspired Festival Coming To Danville

DANVILLE, CA — Where you lead, “Gilmore Girls” fans will follow — and this fall, that means Danville.

Danville’s picture-perfect downtown was selected as a stand-in for Stars Hollow, the fictional Connecticut town home to Lorelai and Rory Gilmore on the hit WB show.

The weekend of Oct. 23-25, Danville will play the part of a quaint New England village with a gazebo hosting “Flannel & Foliage,” a new, independent autumn-themed festival devoted to “Gilmore Girls” trivia and community and fall coziness.

“We explored a few options but Danville emerged as the ideal location for the festival. It offers that picturesque, small-town charm while offering proximity to major Bay Area airports. It's accessible to both local visitors and traveling guests, which is very important,” Small Town Venture founder Ariana Arghandewal told Patch in an email.

Danville’s top destinations – including the Village Theatre, Danville Community Center, Veterans Memorial Building, and Hap Magee Ranch Park – will host a number of Gilmore Girls-themed events, including:

• Live panels with cast members Scott Patterson, Kelly Bishop, Sean Gunn, Emily Kuroda, Yanic Truesdale, Todd Lowe, and John Cabrera (with an expanded lineup to come, according to Arghandewal)
• Live music
• Trivia sessions
• Scavenger hunts
• TV screenings
• Autumn-themed artisan markets

The independent festival is organized by Small Town Venture, a private company unaffiliated with Warner Bros. Television or any television network or studio. General-admission tickets will be free, although there is a waitlist as of Monday. Email waitlist subscribers will receive the first look at pricing and tier details before tickets officially go live to the general public.

VIP tickets are expected to go on sale later this week here thesmalltownventure.com. Small Town Venture also said that it has secured blocks of discounted rooms at the Hyatt House San Ramon, which can sleep up to four people.

“Gilmore Girls” aired from 2000-2007, and found new popularity in 2014 after episodes were added to Netflix. It tells the story of the close relationship between single mother Lorelai Gilmore and her bright, ambitious teenage daughter Rory as they navigate life and love in a tight-knit, picture-perfect Connecticut town - one that reminded organizers of Danville.

"Danville’s small-town charm, walkable downtown and strong sense of community make it a natural setting for an event inspired by the warmth and character that Gilmore Girls fans have embraced for so many years," Danville Mayor Newell Arnerich said in a statement shared with The San Francisco Chronicle and SFist.

The Danville Town Council will hear more about the event – which town staff hope will become an annual fall tradition – in a report at their Tuesday meeting. According to that report, Small Town Venture has applied for a Danville Business Promotion Grant to encourage local business participation, and several local businesses are already engaged.

Many similar "Gilmore Girl"-themed events already take place on the East Coast, including in Connecticut. Arghandewal, a former travel writer and founder of travel site Pointchaser, said she hopes to feature more autumn-themed events on the West Coast.

"The idea for Flannel & Foliage came to me after I returned home from an autumn trip to the East Coast. I realized our towns and fall foliage are just as beautiful as what people fly across the country to experience. Autumn is often celebrated on the East Coast through lavish festivals and I wanted to wanted to bring that home," she said. "My focus is Northern California because we have so many wonderful small towns that deserve the spotlight and my goal is to continue expanding in this region. People are traveling less and many small businesses are hurting: With a festival like this, I hope to encourage people to experience new destinations without traveling far."

SEE ALSO:

• 'Gilmore Girls' Festival Is Coming To Guilford