Fans gather for `Twin Peaks' festival

DEVOTEES OF Agent Dale Cooper and those who remember Laura Palmer will meet this weekend in North Bend for the eighth annual `Twin Peaks' festival. The three-day event includes trips to Seattle and Bainbridge Island.

NORTH BEND

It shouldn't come as a surprise when visitors from all over the world descend on North Bend this weekend.

It's "Twin Peaks" time again.

Like fans of "Star Trek," Peakers are devoted to keeping a TV show alive - in this case, David Lynch's surreal series, which is still shown on cable television.

Both the "Twin Peaks" television series and the movie "Fire Walk With Me" were set in the North Bend-Snoqualmie area and filmed a decade ago.

The series put North Bend - portrayed as a small rain-drenched town set in the looming shadows of the mountains - on the map and made it a destination for "Twin Peaks" fans worldwide.

This weekend they're coming for the eighth annual Twin Peaks Fan Festival, which has been steadily growing.

Eric Thomas, who has put on the festival for the past three years, is elated with the response. He took over the festival when a Michigan couple gave it up.

Thomas, from Los Angeles, said only 110 people signed up for the first gathering. The second year, 180 showed up; this year more than 230 have made reservations.

Now he is expecting fans from Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, Ireland, England and Australia. The series, Thomas said, is now being broadcast in Belgium and Australia, and in the United States it is shown on the Bravo channel.

Also under way is a "Twin Peaks Tenth Anniversary Documentary," which is being created by John Mitchell, owner of Freakboy Films in Los Angeles. The documentary is to be ready for public distribution this fall.

Mitchell, an avid "Peaks" fan, said the video will include interviews with stars of the show, scenes from the 1999 and 2000 festival, and all the locations where scenes for the series were shot 10 years ago.

The festival kicks off with a noon to 5 p.m. sign-in Friday at the Sallal Grange Hall in North Bend. Anyone who has not purchased the Twin Peaks Festival package tickets for selected events can do so at the grange hall Friday.

A 6 to 10 p.m. celebrity dinner on Friday will be held at Alexandra's River Inn in Carnation. Among actors expected to attend are Kimmy Robertson (Lucy Moran), Walter Olkewicz (Jacques Renault), Everett McGill (Big Ed Hurley), Don Davis (Maj. Briggs), Charlotte Stewart (Mrs. Briggs), Michael Anderson (Little Man From Another Place), Jan D'Arcy (Silvia Horne), Phoebe Augustine (Ronnette Polaski), Chris Mulkey (Hank Jennings) and Catherine Coulson (The Log Lady).

After the dinner, revelers will move to the Masonic Lodge in Fall City for a party.

Saturday's agenda includes a bus tour to sites where the television series was filmed, but one stop featured in festivals past will be eliminated. In the series, the Double-R Diner, in real life the Mar T Cafe in North Bend, was the scene where FBI Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) took a break during the investigation of Laura Palmer's slaying. At the Double-R, Cooper would rave about the "died and gone to heaven" cherry pie and black "cuppa joe."

It brought the Mar T, which later was sold and became Twede's Cafe, international attention.

On July 3, the cafe was badly damaged in an unsolved burglary and arson. It will not be be open for the festival.

On Saturday night, "Peaks" fans will view the original pilot of Lynch's series at the Seattle Art Museum. Some rare Lynch short films will also be shown.

Bainbridge Island will be the setting for Sunday's activities, with "Twin Peaks" cherry pie served at the Llama Farm. The pies will be baked by Pat Cokewell, who owned and operated the Mar T during the show's heyday. Also on the island is Kiana Lodge, the filming site for the Great Northern Hotel in the series.

Mixed in among the activities each day are rock-throwing, costume and trivia contests, and a Pine Weasel scavenger hunt. There will be prizes for the winners.

Tickets to the festival are available noon to 5 p.m. Friday at the Sallal Grange Hall, 12912 432nd Ave. S.E., North Bend.