More than 400 people came to Snoqualmie on Saturday, May 13, for the city’s official “Twin Peaks” community event celebrating the return of the television show (season three debuts on Showtime May 21) after 27 years.
The event began at Centennial Field in Snoqualmie with groups of friends and families embarking on a scavenger hunt for various Twin Peaks-related locations and items around the area. The hunt rules had people taking selfies with Snoqualmie landmarks, visiting local businesses and doing other creative activities, such as stacking rocks.
Chad Syme, who came to Snoqualmie for the day from Seattle, said he and his friends found out about the event through Facebook and thought it would be a fun trip. Among other locations and activities, the hunt had the group
“I was targeted on Facebook as a person who would probably want to do this event. We all love Twin Peaks we’ve come back many times just to partake in the location,” Syme said. “We had to find the log lady’s glasses in Birches, a lot of locations, a lot of trivia, some kind of physical tasks, arm wrestling, cheerleading. Now we have to stack rocks as high as the shortest person in our group’s waist. We are now attempting to do forced perceptive. Otherwise it’s impossible.”
After the scavenger hunt, which ended at DirtFish, on the former Weyerhaeuser mill site, event participants all moved up to the DirtFish warehouse for a screening of the Twin Peaks movie “Fire Walk With Me.” People brought out chairs and blankets and set up in front of a massive screen inside the warehouse.
Before the show began, fans had a chance to take photos with the Twin Peaks Sheriff Department truck, some of the crew members behind the show, and two actresses from the new series, Lisa Coronado and Jodi Thelen. Some fans, including 11-year-old Kylie Allison, who was the Log Lady, even dressed up as favorite characters.
Allison, who watched “Twin Peaks” when she was 8 and became a huge fan, and her parents drove up for the event from Portland. The event also brought in an international visitor. Coming from Rome, Italy, Riccardo Vinciguerra arrived at Sea-Tac airport Saturday morning and took an Uber ride to Snoqualmie for the event.
“I am very happy. For me, it is a dream,” Vinciguerra said. “The atmosphere, the story and the details in everything, the character of the people is fantastic.”
Lizzy Billington, events coordinator consultant for the city, said the event was a success. Along with counting ticket sales, the city is going to collect data on how many out-of-town tourists came for the event.
“We have between 430 and 470 people,” Billington said. “It’s been a huge success, people are really into it, people are really excited about it and it’s a lot of greater Seattle and greater Washington traffic. After the event we will send out a survey to all of the participants and get ZIP codes and then we can tally up what is tourist foot traffic and what is local.”
City staff equipped the DirtFish warehouse with generators and heating for the movie.
The city also said they plan to do more “Twin Peaks” events in the future as the show enjoys a renewed relevance in pop-culture.
Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson and Kylie Allison from Portland, get a picture Together. Allison dressed as the Twin Peaks “Log Lady” for the event. (Evan Pappas/Staff Photo)
Actresses Jodi Thelen and Lisa Coronado, met with fans of Twin Peaks. Both Thelen and Coronado will be in the new season of Twin Peaks. (Evan Pappas/Staff Photo)
Ricardo Vinciguerro traveled to Snoqualmie from Rome, Italy, for the Twin Peaks event. (Evan Pappas/Staff Photo)
The crowd gets excited for the movie as the lights dim. (Evan Pappas/Staff Photo)
City officials and Twin Peaks cast and crew got together for a photo at Saturday’s event. From left, Location Scout and Manager Dave Drummond, Events Consultant Lizzy Billington, Actor Jodee Thelen, Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson, Actor Lisa Coronado, and Parks and Recreation Director Dan Marcinko. (Evan Pappas/Staff Photo)
People gather at the Dirtfish warehouse before the screening of the movie. (Evan Pappas/Staff Photo)
Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson and Compass Outdoor Adventure Owner Luke Talbott speak to the crowd before the movie begins and hand out prizes to the winners of the scavenger hunt. (Evan Pappas/Staff Photo)
Luke Talbott gets a video call from his daughter during the introduction to the event. He answers the call and the audience laughs and waves to the camera. (Evan Pappas/Staff Photo)
Teams of friends gather in downtown Snoqualmie to determine where to go for the next item on their Twin Peaks scavenger hunt list. (Evan Pappas/Staff Photo)
The Thomas family takes part in the Twin Peaks scavenger hunt. From left, Richard, Christian, Shannon and Gianna Thomas. (Evan Pappas/Staff Photo)
Chris Syme and Patrick St. Mary stack rocks to as part of the hunt. (Evan Pappas/Staff Photo)
Kirk Mastin stands behind the stack of rocks to create a perspective trick and make the rocks seem taller than they actually are. (Evan Pappas/Staff Photo)
