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  • After-Hours Events
    The fun continues After-Hours with screenings and live horror hosts!
  • Make & Take for Kids
    Kids age 16 and under can learn how to build a model and keep it in our Make & Take.
  • 2013 List of Dealers
    Two incredible Dealer's Rooms for collectible models, toys, posters, and more!

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What is WonderFest?

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A weekend of hobby fun!

S-F, horror & anime models are celebrated in Louisville!   WonderFest is THE annual expo for model and toy collectors of s-f,  horror & comics subjects--especially plastic kits & garage kits. 

Learn more...

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PAY for Admission

At the door. No credit cards.

Adults: $25 for a single-day ticket, $33 for a 2-day ticket. Early Bird and children's tickets are available. Booth opens Friday at 5 pm, Sat. at 7:30 am.

Ticket Info

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RESERVE Your Room

Our discounted room block rate at the Crowne Plaza Airport covers May 15-19 (Wednesday thru Sunday), so come in a bit early or stay over and still get our $117 per night rate for up to 4 persons.

Hotel Info

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ENTER the Contest 

Entry Fees: 
$9 per first 2 models for adults, up to 8 additional entries free;
$7 per first 2 models for teens, up to 8 add'l entries free (ages 13-19).
Free for ages 12 & under!

Entry Info

Demos run all weekend long

WonderFest continues our commitment to the art of model making with an expanded demo lineup! Tracks include FIGURE modeling, HARDWARE modeling, and COMPUTER modeling.

Learn techniques from the hobby's most accomplished modelers

We've picked some of the best builders to share specific tips and tricks. Talks last from 30 minutes to an hour (or even two), and focus on major modeling topics and skills demonstrations. Some allow the viewers to try the techniques shown. Video assist is used in most demos so that everyone can see.

A schedule of the daily demos will be published on this website and will be in the Pocket Program book.

Read More

It's our popular After-Show Party...

8pm Sunday Night  — Tickets are only $5 per person!

Club WTF logoBuy tickets at the ADMISSIONS booth all weekend long, and at the door.

It's the perfect capper to a fun WonderFest weekend. Come celebrate on Sunday evening at ‘Club WTF!’ (get yer minds outta the gutter kids—that’s “WonderFest True Fans”) as another ‘Fest bites the dust.

Purchase food and drink a la carte, enjoy a cash bar, exclusive videos and presentations. The 2012 party was a smash hit. Don't miss it!

More Information

WonderFest Latest News

Upcoming Show: May 18-19, 2013!


Cyclops image by David Voigt

Just Added: The Ray Harryhausen Super-8 Tribute

Saturday night at 11. Rediscover the magic of Dynamation!

5/11/13: All fans of fantastic movie creatures are saddened at the loss last week of Ray Harryhausen. A two-time WonderFest guest, we couldn't pass up adding a late tribute to this amazing artist. Rondo Award-winning Monsterkid Tom Stockman has risen to the occasion with an all-new retro-tinged salute to the work of the late Master of the Majicks. Read more on our AFTER-HOURS page.


Flash logo

FLASH! He'll save every one of us!

Alley Theater returns with a Sunday night Flash Gordon show!

5/5/13: Our Sunday night after-show event starts at 7pm and will packed with fun and surprises. The event will open and close with hilarious chapters of the Flash Gordon serial, performed LIVE by the Alley Theater cast. We'll have a cash bar and a la carte food buffet in a relaxed setting to hang out with friends. There will be other programming surprises. Read more on our AFTER-HOURS page.

Brinke Stevens

The 2013 Program Schedule is posted!

Read all about the times and locations for awesome guest talks, demos and panels!

Daytimes and nighttimes are packed with programs and events at WonderFest. It's a very full weekend! Starting with our Friday Night Meet & Greet Party and ending with our Sunday Night After-Show Event, in between we've got guest talks, makeup demonstrations, how-to modeling demos, a make & take, movie showings, and much more! Visit our DAYTIME and AFTER-HOURS pages to read more.


Spock with an alien phaser

Props to Ken Palkow, master prop-maker!

Last-minute guest addition!

4/20/13: His newest movie, Star Trek Into Darkness, opens WonderFest weekend, so it's a thrill to welcome Hollywood prop-maker Ken Palkow. You've seen his props in movies from Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Underworld: Awakening, and Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome, to the new Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. Folks who enter props in our new category in the AMAZING Model Contest should be happy to know that Ken will be helping to judge! Visit our GUESTS page to read more about Ken.

Eric Chu's Cylon art

A flock of Falcons and a Cylon Basestar!

The exhibits area will be packed!

Lucas Francis Studios will be showcasing a special display of studio-scale Millennium Falcon models as part of WonderFest 2013, including four to six 32-inch studio scale Falcons and one 5-foot large Falcon built by their local builder group! Also, modelmaker Sean Corsini will be displaying his incredible, scratchbuilt, studio scale Cylon Basestar at WonderFest. It is 38-inches in diameter and is illuminated. Visit our EXHIBITS page to read more.


John Goodwin applying Ape makeup to David Hodge

Welcome back John Goodwin...

He'll make a monster out of you!

3/26/13: We're thrilled to welcome back Emmy-winning makeup artist John Goodwin. You've seen his work on CSI, Men in Black, John Carpenter's The Thing, and on WonderFest volunteers. Yes, John treats fans to a look at how Hollywood makeup really works by turning fan volunteers into anything from Gill people to Apes!

LEric Chu's Cylon art

...and Eric Chu!

A Galactica design guru!

Galactica and Captain Power designer Eric Chu made his first WonderFest appearance in 2012 and immediately became part of the family. He's a super-talented illustrator and a real modeling fan. We're so happy that he's back with us to play this year! Be sure to congratulate him on his marriage since our last show and his new bundle of joy on the way! Visit our GUESTS page to read more about John and Eric.

WonderFest Facebook page

Please LIKE our new Facebook page!

"Like" us at our new FACEBOOK page. It's an all-new, official Facebook site for WonderFest! You'll find postings of all the latest announcements and lots of cool tidbits. Plus a trip down our timeline will reveal lots of relics you may remember from past WnderFests. Be sure to "like" us and ask your friends to "like" us too! We'll do our best to keep the news and postings flowing...


Krentz T Rex photo photo

Dino Modeler Alert!

Friday Dino 101 workshop sweetens deal!

3/9/13: The deal just got better for folks who want to participate in the Friday Dino 101 workshop, sponsored by Iwata and TAG Team. The package deal, that includes an incredible resin T. Rex model sculpted by David Krentz, is now available in more than one price level. It's $250 (including the kit and a new airbrush but you bring your own compressor) or $150 (including the kit but you bring your own compressor and airbrush). Read more about this first-time event for dino modelers.


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Breaking News:

New Phantom of the Opera documentary to premiere at WonderFest!

2/23/13: WonderFest 2013 will be the venue for the premiere of the new documentary from Rondo Award- winning filmmakers Cortlandt Hull & Bill Diamond: The Phantom of the Opera - Unmasking the Masterpiece! It's a comprehensive visual journey through the various versions of the Gaston Leroux novel, with emphasis on the Lon Chaney Sr., Claude Rains and Herbert Lom films, featuring new interviews with Ron Chaney, Carla Laemmle, Daniel Roebuck, and more! Visit our AFTER-HOURS EVENTS page for details!


Barnabas Collins by Mark Maddox

New guests listed including Sara Karloff!

Several new guests and Friday workshops posted

2/11/13: WonderFest welcomes Sara Karloff, enterprising daughter of screen legend Boris Karloff; Artist Mark Maddox; Star Trek and Iron Man designer John Eaves; Artist Belle Dee, creator of amazing artwork and some of our most memorable t-shirts; and Anthony Taylor, long-time attendee, author, and Gerry Anderson expert. Visit our GUESTS page to learn more about them.

Victoria sculpture

Visit our FRIDAY EVENTS page. We've just posted details and links to several workshops sponsored by industry-leading kit and airbrush companies that will knock you socks off! Learn sculpting and painting from some of the best talents in the hobby. And for all you aspiring airbrush artists, learn to use Badger and Iwata's best new airbrushes like a pro! Best of all, you can stretch your WonderFest weekend by an extra day for more socializing with hobby friends old and new.


Lee in the Time Tunnel

The first guests for WonderFest 2013 are now posted!

See the first confirmations so far...with more to come!

1/19/13: We're thrilled to announce our first guests:  Actress Lee Meriwether, actress Brinke Stevens, visual effects wiz Lee Stringer, and incredible artist John Tyler Christopher. All are first-timers who are looking forward to meeting with fans and doing presentations to knock your socks off! Visit our GUESTS page to learn more about them.

More guests are confirming. Look for more new names and some returning favorites.

Gorn at Vasquez Rocks

Check out our EXHIBITS page. We've got some exiting announcements: A tribute collectibles exhibit for the Supermarionation Puppet Shows of Gerry Anderson. A Kogar's Korner display of props and masks, including Star Trek's Gorn and Melkotion from the original molds! And an annual favorite, the life-size monsters from The Witch's Dungeon, courtesy of Cortlandt Hull!

WonderFest is celebrating its 24th year as a driving force in the hobby. Mark your calendars for May 18-19, 2013! Also, don't forget to subscribe to our e-Newsletter. See below...


 

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Use the subscription form (at left) to get on the list for all future mailings. We will not sell or trade this list, it is simply for WonderFest news updates. You may unsubscribe at any time.

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