Twilighters Go To School & Prom in Forks, Boosting Local Economy

by alia_d | July 2, 2009 at 11:18 am

834 views | 2 Recommendations | 7 comments

This past weekend, Twilight fans attended summer school and prom in Forks - just like Bella and Edward, the main characters of Twilight whose romance blooms in the little town of Forks, WA, which has a population of 3,000, huge Pacific Northwest trees, and a beautiful coastline.

Twilighters got to live out their dream by attending a Twilight Symposium in Forks High School complete with a mock prom and a tour of Forks featuring restaurants modeled after the Twilight saga, such as the Italian restaurant where Edward and Bella had their first date.

Locals, on the other hand, were grateful for the much-needed boost Twilight tourism has provided to their local economy.

"The town was having some major economic issues, because their major export was logging — and then 'Twilight' came along," Kaleb [a popular Twilight blogger] explained. "And if you look at Forks now, Stephenie [Meyer, the author of Twilight,] has transformed this town into a 'Twilight' tourism economy. It's crazy."

Here is a testimony from one satisfied fan:

"We ended up taking the same flight Bella took to get to Forks in 'Twilight,' " explained Maddi, remembering the journey that she and her friends had taken to get to the tiny town Meyer selected for her novels despite the fact that she had never actually set foot here. "We went from Phoenix to the Seattle airport, then took a puddle-jumper from Seattle to Port Angeles and got to see all the beautiful scenery.

"We ate at Bella Italia, which is where Edward and Bella had their first date. It was pouring — just like it should be — when we got here," she continued, saying that even when there isn't a scheduled fan event, Forks is still a Disneyland for Twilighters. "Everywhere you go, you can just imagine Bella and Edward walking down the street in this cozy little town. It really is like being in the home of 'Twilight.' "

Though the visiting Twilighters enjoyed themselves in the dreamy town of Forks, I can't help but be a little unsettled by this Twilight mania. It has even inspired Forks High School to make mock Bella and Edward lockers for the thousands of fans that pass through.

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MJ Pennington

at 11:19 on July 5th, 2009

Forks is not the only rainy small town on the Olympic Peninsula but it is the only one with VAMPIRES and WOLVES. We had a blast on our Twi-cation! A beautifu drive and much to do and see. I reccomend seeing Forks and all the spots there first because once you are in La Push at 1st beach you will NEVER leave! A photographers dream!
Oh and be sure to donate at the vampire blood bank at the WELCOME to FORKS sign!

MJ Pennington has contributed a photo to this story.

Emerson Imaging

at 00:07 on July 7th, 2009

We visited Forks as part of a trip around the Olympic Peninsula. Being able to see the town brought the characters and imagery into sharper focus. Purchased a copy of "Breaking Dawn" at the Forks Pharmacy for my daughter.

Emerson Imaging has contributed a photo to this story.

Lucid77

at 06:31 on July 7th, 2009

My Wife and I were planning on attending Summer School until we had a family emergency that kept us away. She went to Forks last year with a friend and took these pictures. We hope to be back there in October to get more. She has a whole set of Flickr/Twilight related photo's from around that area on my flickr stream. http://www.flickr.com/photos/asylumphoto/sets/72157617879735971/

Lucid77 has contributed a photo to this story.

EmberWolfe

at 20:47 on July 7th, 2009

My friends and I went on a road trip through Oregon and Washington to see all of the filming locations and book locations for Twilight. Forks was very close to what I had pictured when reading the books. The people were so incredibly warm and welcoming! There are mentions and signs of Twilight lore everywhere around town. We even found Dr. Cullen's parking space at the hospital!

EmberWolfe has contributed a photo to this story.

Pat Mark

at 19:27 on July 8th, 2009

BELLA, the replica of the truck Bella drove in the movie. It was sitting in front of the Chamber of Commerce so I combined it with a photo taken on a hike in the HOA rainforest.

Pat Mark has contributed a photo to this story.

Luciano Galasso

at 08:48 on July 13th, 2009

wow. I didn't know people were actually able to do this. or that people actually did. If twilight is that good then I guess I should look into it.

My one question is, how was the writer able to describe the town of Forks if she had never step foot in it?

- Luciano Galasso

http://lucianogalasso2.wordpress.com/

MJ Pennington

at 08:49 on August 23rd, 2009

Luciano the internet provided all the information she needed, don't all writers do extensive research before writing?? She did a good job, but being a native of the area I caught on to the mistakes.