75 years since the ‘crash’

events 75 years since the

‘crash’

A festival celebrates the beginning of the UFO era

By Christina Stock Vision Editor

More than a dozen organizations, businesses, museums, the city of Roswell and the Roswell Daily Record are inviting locals and visitors, from July 1 to 3, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the alleged UFO crash in the high desert outside of Roswell. The events include UFO Festival vendors and entertainment in and around the Roswell Convention Center; Galacticon, featuring sci-fi authors, games, cosplayers and steampunk; as well as live music and entertainment at the Chaves County Courthouse and Reischman Park, located downtown on Main Street. MainStreet Roswell has its booth there and visitors are invited to pick up their free “passport” for a scavenger hunt leading to local businesses. Popular events are the SciFi Film Fest at the Allen Theater Galaxy 8 at the mall, the Alien Pet Contest and Human Alien Costume Contest at the courthouse and the parade downtown. The theme of the parade this year is, “Close Encounters of the Roswell Kind.” Anybody can join the parade. Forms are available with a deadline of July 1, 5 p.m. at the MainStreet Roswell booth, or online at mainstreetroswell.org. There are various tours offered, including one that takes visitors to the Roswell Daily Record, to the 1947 reenactment play at the Roswell Community Little Theatre — which is also hosting a battle of the bands — and to the Walker Aviation Museum. Battle of the bands winner will be opening for the UFO Festival main concert at DeBremond Stadium with headlining band Midland as well as William Clark Green and Laci Kaye Booth on July 2. Speaking of main concerts, the main headliner at the courthouse later that night is the Facebook viral sensation Reina Del Cid on Saturday evening. The duo was stranded in Roswell having to get their van repaired and encountered the hospitality of Roswell. As a thank you, they wrote a little song about the Roswell Incident — which got more than 10,000 shares on Facebook within a couple of days.

Restaurants and wineries have extended their hours during the festival, and there are a multitude of food vendors present as well as a beer garden at the convention center. Some businesses joined in with special souvenirs of the “out of this world” kind. Others are offering virtual space walks, laser tag fun and even an interactive miniature exhibit, “Bricktown Alien Attack — We Come in Pieces,” on East Second Street, which was built with the help of local game inventor Matt Bromley, with more than 250,000 Lego bricks. Then there is Roswell’s art community — watch out for the “alien creature” lurking in and around the Roswell Museum with its special exhibit “Future Shock: (Re) Visions of Tomorrow.” There will be live space-inspired music at the museum. The Robert H. Goddard Planetarium, which is attached to the museum, features a vari-

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Christina Stock Photo One never knows who is going to visit Roswell’s UFO Festival, from “predators” to tourists from overseas, everybody is welcome.

see Crash on page 20

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