Preparations are ongoing at Marion Municipal Airport for James Dean Fest, which will start Friday and conclude a week from today.
As the opening draws near, organizers want to remind festivalgoers that there won't be seating at the event, which will include showings of Dean's three movies on a 100-foot-wide outdoor movie screen. Spectators should prepare to bring a lawn chair or blanket and pay $5 for parking.
"It's open seating," said Steve Gerardi, president of SG Entertainment, Indianapolis, a key coordinator for the event. "Really, it's just a piece of grass, you know? We're trying to encourage people to bring lawn chairs. I think there's going to be a booth selling lawn chairs out there, too."
He said attendees could check their chairs and blankets at the gate, so they won't have to carry them around the grounds.
Airport workers already are putting in overtime trying to get ready for the festival. Last week, Kent Ruley mowed and weeded the roughly 150 acres of grass at the airport.
"We're going to have to do it all again," Ruley said Friday evening, eyeing the already lengthening grass. He also has been filling holes on the grounds so that people can park and walk to various attractions to be set up along the longest runway, which will be closed.
"We've got a lot of areas out here that normally don't get walked on," said Andy Darlington, airport manager. "They've been out filling holes to make sure cars don't get stuck and ankles don't get twisted."
Parking will be available first on the north end of the airport at $5 for cars and $15 for larger vehicles such as RVs, Gerardi said. All vehicles must leave the airport grounds at the end of the night; no camping will be allowed, he said.
Behind one of the airport's outbuildings, about 50 portable toilets are lined up, waiting to be positioned on the grounds. Gerardi said plans are to have 100 on site when the festival starts. Setup is scheduled to begin Wednesday after the runway is shut down.
At Dean Fest headquarters on South Washington Street, tickets have been selling well, said Jennifer Seybold, wife of Mayor Wayne Seybold, who is working part time at the store.
"The phone's been ringing off the hook," said Jennifer Seybold, who sold a James Dean commemorative license plate Friday afternoon and helped a couple fill out insurance forms to set up a booth during the festival.
Several miles north in downtown Marion, organizers of the Forever Cool weekend are also optimistic about the hoopla ahead. The event, which will include vendors, entertainment, a carnival, car show and motorcycle run, starts Thursday.
"We're extending it all the way to the river," said Betsy Coss, director of Main Street Marion, which is coordinating the event. "This is bigger than October Fest because it's a First Friday plus October Fest. It's going to be a much larger event."
Dean Fest could draw crowds in the tens of thousands, organizers project. The weather will, of course, be key.
Already, airport officials have their eye on the sky. A computer screen in the airport lobby showed a 10-day weather forecast Friday. Eight of the 10 days showed clouds and a chance of rain.
"On most of them it's just something like a 20 percent chance," Darlington said.
Rain or shine, Fairmount Historical Museum will offer bus tours of the area where Dean grew up. Stops include the Winslow farm, 7184 S. 150E, where Dean was raised and family members still live, Back Creek Friends Church, where Dean attended church, and the motorcycle shop next door where he bought two of his motorcycles.
Tour guides will be museum workers and other Fairmount residents - including a number of people who knew Dean, said Gale Hikade, president of the museum board.
"I hope it will make more people aware of the true story of James Dean and will get a full feeling of the small town," Hikade said. "I think it will be interesting for them."
Correspondent Cathy Shouse contributed to this article.
