FORKS — If the Cullens really dwelled in Forks, it wouldn’t be a very good hiding place this weekend.
Stephenie Meyer Weekend in Forks will celebrate the best-selling Twilight saga of four books about fictional teenager Bella Swan and her vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen on Saturday and Sunday.
Edward and his vampire family move to Forks to hide in its cloudy atmosphere and secluded location.
The fantasy books, which stayed in the best-seller list for the past two years, were thrust farther into the spotlight by the blockbuster movie “Twilight,” which was released last November.
The fictional characters — and Forks as a town — have since been elevated to rock-star status with tens of thousands of fans visiting the North Olympic Peninsula to see the real-life locations of the books.
The phenomenon drew 16,000 fans to Forks in July alone and more than 55,000 so far this year.
Last year’s Stephenie Meyer Day drew about 1,000 fans, so this year, Forks Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Marcia Bingham is tentatively estimating about twice that.
“We just never know,” she said.
“Everyone is so positive about all of the events.”
Because of the success of last year’s event, this year was expanded into a full weekend with events stretching throughout Saturday and Sunday.
Sunday — Sept. 13 — is the date named in the novels as Bella’s birthday.
Fans can gather, listen to music and get merchandise from Twilight-specific vendors at Tillicum Park both Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday will also feature a bonfire at First Beach in LaPush with storytelling by Quileute elder Chris Morganroth and an appearance by “New Moon” actress Tinsel Korey.
Korey plays the girlfriend of Sam Uley, the leader of the fictional Quileute werewolves.
Mayor Nedra Reed will read a proclamation at 1 p.m. Sunday and immediately after, the festivities will continue with cake, punch and about an hour later a group photo at the park.
Meyer will not attend the event, which is named for her.
The weekend, which is named for the author of the series, celebrates Bella’s birthday and is in its third year of “official” celebration.
In 2006, Stephenie Meyer did a reading in Tillicum Park and though all was set to declare that day in July as the first Stephenie Meyer Day ever, the weather was rather sunny — contrary to the books’ descriptions — so the pronouncement was held off for a rainier day.
Another special event will be a book signing by George Beahm and Tim Kirk, who wrote and illustrated the recently released Twilight Tours — An Illustrated Guide to the Real Forks. The signing will be throughout Saturday at Dazzled by Twilight, 61 N. Forks Ave.
“This is really a gorgeous book,” Bingham said.
The book also includes photographs by Mike Gurling, Forks Visitor Center manager.
“It is really a fantastic quality book,” Bingham said.
__________
Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
