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Amazing UFO festival
The Amazing Roswell UFO
Festival, scheduled July 5-9 all over Roswell, promises to be the best UFO
festival yet.
Ten years ago, Roswell was packed with UFO enthusiasts, here for the 50th
anniversary of the Roswell Incident, the crash of an unidentified flying
object on a ranch northwest of Roswell in July 1947.
Since then, attendance has dropped off more each year and in the past
couple of years we have heard a lot of speculation over whether the annual
festival would survive another year.
This year, the city of Roswell has taken over the festival, and planners
have scheduled such a variety of activities that everyone should be able
to find something to their liking. The 2007 Amazing Roswell UFO Festival
is the kind of extravaganza that should have been taking place all along.
There actually are two UFO festivals this year. The Internatinal UFO
Museum and Research Center has decided to do its own thing - "Roswalien
Experience 2007" - and also has activities scheduled each day.
Certainly there's plenty here for the serious student of Ufology - the
study of unidentified flying objects. Lectures are scheduled every day at
the UFO Museum, Bassett Auditorium at the Roswell Museum & Art Center,
Robert H. Goddard Planetarium and the Roswell Convention and Civic Center.
In addition, there will be vendors and exhibits at the Convention Center,
along with live broadcasts. At the Wool Bowl, there will be tethered
balloon flights each morning and helicopter rides after that. Great
Southwest will be providing flights over Roswell at the Roswell
International Air Center. Buses will take people out to the crash site on
the Corn Ranch.
A carnival will be set up at the Wool Bowl beginning Tuesday, July 3.
Children's outdoor activities will be offered at the Wool Bowl Friday,
Saturday and Sunday. Concerts will be held from mid-afternoon until
midnight every night at the Wool Bowl.
Friday morning, aircraft will fly in to RIAC for the Roswell Airfest 2007
- the successor to the Roswell Spectacular Air Show of past years.
Aircraft will be on display at RIAC all day Friday and Saturday. Aircraft
also will perform in the skies over Roswell on Friday and Saturday
afternoon.
The Alien Motorcycle Rally will be held Friday through Sunday at the Elks
Lodge. And, of course, there will be an alien costume contest at the
Convention Center and the light parade head down Main Street on Saturday
night.
Oh, and don't forget the "UFOetry" readings (UFO-related poetry)
and performances of the play "Rendezvous over Roswell" at the
Roswell Community Little Theatre.
Sports activities during the weekend include the Alien Chase Run on
Saturday, World's Best Skateboard & BMX Athletes performances Friday
and Saturday, alien disk golf competition Friday, UFO Soccer, Mud
Volleyball and Dodgeball tournaments Saturday and Sunday.
The Amazing Roswell UFO Festival has received attention in national and
international press, so maybe some of the UFO aficionados who haven't been
back since the 1997 festival will come again.
Planners have done all they can to make the 2007 festival a success. It
would be nice if it were a financial success for the city, but even if
expenses far outweigh costs, if it brings large numbers of people to town,
it will be a success.
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