On the California coast far, far north…it’s the Forest Moon Festival returning across Humboldt and Del Norte counties.
The annual festival headed up by the Humboldt-Del Norte Film Commission is bringing a more interactive element this year.
“We have an app this year so that so that you can have it on your phone, a little more accessible than just having the website version,” film commissioner Cassandra Hesseltine said.
On the free Redwood Coast Film Experience app, guests and residents can participate in the fun with two interactive experiences.
The first is a business passport that encourages star voyagers to stop by local establishments with discounts as part of the festival. That experience is active right now.
The second experience is a scavenger hunt that begins with the start of the Forest Moon Festival.
“The scavenger hunt starts on Friday when the festival starts on friday afternoon, and that one also takes place by going to different businesses and doing whatever task that they are asking task, riddle, whatever it is,” Hesseltine explained. “And then you scan the QR code, it’ll say task completed and whoever has the most at the end of the festival is the winner.”
Two grand prize winners will win a pair of tickets courtesy of Avelo and Advanced Airlines to travel across different systems or the U.S. city of your choice.
The app also allows users to navigate festival events throughout Humboldt and Del Norte counties during the weekend.
One event, in particular, is the World-Hopping Walk Through the Dunes.
This three-hour world-hopping intergalactic tour starts here at Ma-le’l Dunes, welcoming guests from across the galaxy.
“We’re going to have some interpretation with our guided walk leader, Dante, and we’re going to voyage through the swamps and wetlands to the forest moon,” Friends of the Dunes development director Ashley Osia said. “And then we’re going to conclude in the sandy dune world where you might want to take a selfie in your best intergalactic themed outfit.”
Those ready to go across the stars can do so on June 2nd starting at the Ma-le’l Dune North in Manilla at 10 a.m.
The Eureka Theater is hosting a screening of 1980’s Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back on Sunday at 2 p.m. preceded by a panel with costumers. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children.
The Redwood Coast Museum of Film’s new exhibit celebrates the Lost Coast ties to the Star Wars universe.
“We did decide to kind of tell the story of geroge luas and the mythology of the movies and then the creation of adding the film sites of endor, which is what we are famous for,” Hesseltine said.
This is part of the film commission’s goal to celebrate the redwood coast.
“What I love about our festival, and we’ve been told this, it doesn’t happen inside a conference center, it doesn’t happen in a warehouse. We get them outside for the most part or going to businesses and seeing the community. And I hope that people who come to the area who’ve never been here or have never been to the festival, just sees a different version of the area,” Hesseltine said.
The film commission hopes to create film tours in the future alongside the map of locations found in the app.
