What you need to know
Tickets
Where: Purchase in advance at Ticketmaster outlets and at the local event headquarters, 502 S. Washington St., or purchase at the gate.
Cost:
Three-day package: $45 in advance; $55 at the gate.
Single-day ticket: $20 in advance; $25 at the gate.
Students receive a $5 discount.
Grant County families who purchase single or three-day passes at event headquarters will receive two free tickets for children younger than 18 .
Senior citizens can get a 50 percent discount by doing the same.
Parking: $5.
Next American Icon talent search
Tryouts: Friday morning, Community School of the Arts, 428 S. Washington St., with alternate dates if necessary
The acts: Contestants can perform alone or with a group of up to 10. You can sing, dance, act, etc.Equipment and props must be assembled and disassembled in five minutes.
The judging: Top three acts will be announced by noon Saturday. Those acts will perform prior to Saturday night's showing of Rebel Without a Cause. Final celebrity judging will determine grand prize winner, who will be included on a DVD of the documentary James Dean: The Making of a Rebel.
The fee: Application fee of $50 must be received before acts are officially entered. You may apply online with a credit card at www.jamesdeanfest.com or send a check to the James Dean Fest at Next American Icon, P.O. Box 431, Marion, Ind. 46952.
What it costs
A family of four who hails from Grant County can expect to pay the following at Dean Fest, with advance purchase:
Single Day Tickets for two parents: $40 oTickets for two children: no charge.
Movie: covered by cost of ticket
Bands: covered by cost of ticket
Food: (Sirloin burger, $5; Elephant Ear, $4; soft drinks $3 each) Total for the family, $40
Souvenirs: (T-shirt $22.99; Trucker caps, $12.99, replica Tony Stewart James Dean NASCAR racer, $59.99)
Total, $95.97
Total for the day: $175.97
By the numbers
Steve Gerardi, the man who oversaw the opening of Verizon Wireless Music Center in Noblesville, back when it was called Deer Creek, will be running the show at Dean Fest. The veteran producer of live entertainment is president of his own company called SG Entertainment in Indianapolis. This is the biggest show he has ever done in terms of sheer land acreage since he started his own company about a year ago. But he compares it to a late 1980s concert by John Mellencamp at the Indiana State Fairgrounds because the area for that event also didn't have a stage, electricity or water waiting for him.
"Forty-five thousand people and no arrests," he still brags about the Mellencamp show.
Beginning Tuesday he and his crew will begin setting up for the show and creating an small town that will serve as the grounds for Dean Fest next weekend. He has a lot to do in a short period of time.
$1 million + Size of investment in Dean Fest
12,000 FEET OF ELECTRIC CABLE
10,000 GALLONS OF DIESEL FUEL TO RUN ELECTRIC GENERATORS
6,000 GALLONS OF POTABLE WATER TO BE TRUCKED INTO THE SITE
5,000 MAN HOURS TO BE EXPENDED THROUGH EVENT
80 MAXIMUM NUMBER OF PEOPLE USED TO SET UP AND TEAR DOWN DEAN FEST
75 VENDORS
34 NUMBER OF GOLF CARTS TO BE USED BY STAFF
24 NUMBER OF FEET TALL OF SCAFFOLDING THAT WILL SUSPEND SPEAKERS FOR MOVIE SCREEN
8 TRACTOR POWER TRAMS, NORMALLY USED BY STATE FAIR, TO HAUL CROWDS AROUND THE GROUNDS
1 AFTERNOONS USED TO SET UP 100-FOOT CINEMA SCOPE MOVIE SCREEN
0 NUMBER OF RESERVED SEATS (Whoever wants to sit will need to bring a lawn chair and, or a blanket)
