Jawsfest! A Festival of Cinema and Sea
Isn’t it amazing when a cluster of your passions come together in some awesome travel-tastic way? Like a dessert festival in a foodie’s favorite city, or the Hawaii Ironman for athletic island-lover. For me, one of those moments of bliss happened this summer at Jawfest.
Jawsfest seamlessly tied together three of my favorite things — movies, Martha’s Vineyard, and mouthy fish (also known as sharks). This second celebration of all things Jaws was inspired by Universal Studio’s 100th and Discovery Channel Shark Week’s 25th anniversaries, as well as the release of Jaws on Blu-ray DVD and the 37th anniversary of the release of the film.
Back at Beneath The Sea in March, I met a shark activist who handed me a Jawsfest flyer and encouraged me to attend. As if I needed convincing. I am, after all, a girl who once threw a Jaws
My own personal Jawsfest in 2007
Jaws has always fascinated me. The movie that went on to be the third most successful summer blockbuster of all times had a rocky conception. Production was troubled from start to finish with the budget going 300% over and the filming going one hundred and four days over schedule. It changed movie making forever. And seeing it decades later changed me forever. I vividly remember seeing Jaws for the first time — in Martha’s Vineyard, no less! — and my relationship with the water changing instantly. For years I didn’t dare close my eyes underwater, even in the pool. Over the years as I embraced diving and the ocean my fears changed from terror that sharks would hurt me to terror over what my own species is doing to sharks.
So once I heard the event would have a strong shark conservation aspect to it, I was totally sold. As my long term readers know, I’m a bit of an ocean hippie. I am deeply concerned about the plight of ocean’s top predators, grateful for the activists working so hard to protect them, and fascinated by the role of the iconic Spielberg film
The location of Jawsfest didn’t hurt my convictions to attend either. Martha’s Vineyard has a very, very special place in my heart after a childhood of idyllic summer vacations spent there. It’s both the inspiration for Amity Island — the setting of Jaws, and also the location where the movie was filmed. It didn’t take long to get my mom to entertain the idea of joining me for a weekend stroll down memory lane.
As soon as we disembarked our ferry on to the Vineyard I could tell the island was taking this event seriously. Very seriously.
Restaurants, shops and local businesses all banded together to get in the sharky spirit. The former advertising major in me leapt with joy at the creative ads popping up around town. “A newspaper you can sink your teeth into” was a favorite slogan from the Vineyard Gazette. Walking down the streets of each town on the island we encountered Jaws t-shirts, Discovery Channel Shark Week hats, and even a mini-van cruising the streets with a fin tied to the top. The fans had arrived.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
My first stop on the Jawsfest circuit was to Behind the Screams, a memorabilia exhibit including props, scenery, original storyboards and photos from the making of Jaws
It was great to get to see behind the scenes and get a peek into the film’s production, especially the notorious great white himself. For those that don’t spent their August weekends trolling Jaws super-fan events, I’ll give you the short version: the mechanical sharks were a major fail. Such a fail, in fact, that they forced Spielberg to go with a “less is scarier” policy and use music and clever editing, rather than gratuitous shark-shots, to induce anxiety in the movie goer. It worked, and is part of the genius that allows a movie made in 1974 and devoid of today’s special effects to still get a theatre full of people on the edge of their seats.
One event from the weekend that I was extra excited to attend was Sharks, Arts and Conservation, an exhibit of big fish inspired artworks. The opening ceremony boasted an impressive roster of artists, shark experts and conservationists who were there to spread information and boost interest in the fascinating creature that inspired Jaws
Now, some readers may be wondering why it is so important to preserve a species that inspires heart pounding fear and downright pants peeing in so many of us. In reality, sharks have much more to fear of us than we of them. While your chance of being killed by a shark is one in 300 million, more than 80% of sharks are threatened or near-threatened with extinction, and up to 73 million sharks a year are killed for their fins. This spells danger for the entire ocean — as an apex predator, removing sharks from the food chain may mean its ultimate collapse.
Sharks maintain fish stock and are valuable for eco tourism, and they deserve a place on this planet. You can help by saying no to restaurants that serve shark fin soup, supporting legislation banning the shark fin trade, and consider donating to shark conservation groups.
The heart of the festival was the array of Living Jaws sessions, held in the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown. Here cast members, Vineyard locals, and other Jaws VIPS joined forces to create intimate panels about different aspects of making one of the greatest movies of all times. Panels covered a number of topics, some focusing on shark conservation, some focusing on the movies infamously drama riddled production, others focusing on impromptu stories and personal tales from those most intimately involved in the movie.
On the panels I heard from Shark Week executives, extras from the movie, Rodney Fox, a famous shark attack victim now involved in conservation, and more, including Wendy Benchley, wife of the author of Jaws — the book that inspired the movie. My favorite tidbit from the panel came from Mrs. Benchley, who revealed that originally her husband Peter had written the book as a comedy. In my opinion those campy undertones still come through and are part of what I love so much about Jaws.
The grand finale of Jawsfest was Jaws on The Big Screen, an outdoor screening of Jaws in Oak Bluffs park. A crowd of nearly 1,800 fans camped out on the lawn in order to watch the movie under the stars and beside the ocean that started it all. We laughed, we jumped with nerves, we chanted out the iconic lines, and at the end we rose to our feet in applause. It was the perfect end to a fantastic festival.
I’m so grateful to Jawfest for bringing me back to good ol’ Amity Island, reminding me of my love for Jaws and my concern for the great creatures that inspired it, and for putting on a rocking weekend event.
We stuck around in Martha’s Vineyard for a week and I’ve got more posts to come about the island I love so dearly, my first time camping, and a whole lot of other Vineyard goodness. But I’ll sign off for now because otherwise — to use a joke I’ve made before — WE’RE GOING TO NEED A BIGGER BLOG.
And if you don’t get that jest, it’s time to snuggle in with a DVD of Jaws. Haven’t I convinced you by now?
Thanks to Jawsfest for my Press Pass to cover the event. I look forward to the next one!
Receive new posts to your inbox! Enter your email address below:
I'm a New York native who left my home to explore the world slowly and thoroughly. I love photography, scuba diving, and reading guidebooks to countries I have no immediate plans to visit. Read more on my 
Yay!! Sharks! Awesome. I am a huge fan of sharks and this event looks so fun. I just finished my PADI shark diver specialty here and it was so amazing to go diving with them.
Rika | Cubicle Throwdown recently posted..Roatan Month 2 Roundup
I remember seeing that dive advertised in Roatan! I did one in the Bahamas, it was great
I saw that movie when it opened at Ventura Beach and wouldn’t go near the water afterwards for many years. Seems you, and everyone, had a great time. Long live sharks!
Gaelyn recently posted..Shadows on the Esplanade
I bet that was a fun showing… and I bet that beach was empty all summer!
The festival looked like a lot of fun! I think after seeing Jaws for the first time when I was 7 I was afraid that hammerheads were going to attack me in the country club pool. Which is so logical, obviously.
Ashley of Ashley Abroad recently posted..Saturday Snapshot 2
Ha if you look at the post I linked to about my fear of sharks, I had the exact same fear — sharks in the pool. Yup, makes total sense.
Looks like you had a great time!I must admit that I have never watched Jaws…but I have seen some in South Africa and saw some reef sharks while snorkeling in Sri Lanka. Honestely I’d be too afraid to go diving with them or do a cage dive in SA.
I think I’ll do the cage diving thing someday, but you better believe I’d be checking the strength of those bars!
Bummed I couldn’t be there, looks like a party!!
Well I’m jealous you are there now! Wahhh, we really need to coordinate our MV trips next time.
This definitely sounds like the perfect event for you! I’ve never seen all of Jaws, and it sounds like I may have to change that.
Emily in Chile recently posted..Communist Cuba: seeing it for ourselves
I think you found the subject of your next movie night
It’s a classic, everyone has to see it once!
I was a big fan of sharks until a tiger shark surrounded me in Queensland… But the festival looks fun!
Sebastian @ Off-The-Path.com recently posted..Great Food, Nice View and Amazing Atmosphere – Red Sky Bar in Bangkok
Eeek, tiger sharks are definitely terror inducing! It’s strange but I’ve managed to find a balance between being totally afraid of sharks and also wanting to help them, ha.
I had no idea Jawsfest existed – what a cool idea! Great to pay homage to an awesome film and raise awareness about shark conservation too. The shot of the Jaws storyboard is brilliant, I studied film at Uni so I’m such a geek for things like that!
Amy recently posted..Leaving Home and Travel Guilt
What a cool major, Ami! I studied art as well (graphic design) so I always geek out over that creative process stuff too.
Yes! I have never heard of such a thing as jaws fest. I love the movie! It sounds like a lot of fun as well as informative about how endangered sharks! I never knew!!
Stephen Schreck recently posted..How to Survive a Staring Contest with a Bear
It’s not an annual event, but I’m sure they will do another one in the future so keep your eyes peeled!
I love little fest’s like these. I remember watching Jaws as a child and being so freaked out. I love watching it now.
Pete recently posted..Travel on the Radio
I hadn’t seen it in a few years so nothing compared to seeing it on the big screen! So much fun!
Jawsfest looks pretty darn awesome! I loved the first one, but the others were “meh”.
Raymond @ Man On The Lam recently posted..Cliff Diving (and Fear-facing) in Wadi Shab, Oman
I don’t even remember the other ones, except for one scene that involved a parasailer being eaten by a shark… scared me off parasailing for many years!
I so want to do behind the Screams.
Kent @ NVR recently posted..You Are Powerful
First, I love that you WARNED me about this. Because you’re right: I was NOT going to click through in my Reader, ha!
Second, no freakin’ way would I EVER go to this! I was scared enough when we drove by the beach while in MV last summer!
Camels & Chocolate recently posted..How to Visit Scotland for Cheap(er)
Well, I would never go to a spider festival, so I can’t blame you there
That shark week is super rad!
Erica recently posted..London on the Cheap
It’s my favorite holiday!
Unless I missed it, I can’t belive you made it through the whole post with using the term “fin fan” or “fin-atic”. I thought that cheese was a given!
Wow, I’m really off my game right now! I was pretty proud of my “bigger blog” joke though
[...] Vineyard Memories Part II In my previous Martha’s Vineyard posts, I’ve blabbed about Jawsfest, showed you around the East side, and revealed big news about my family’s future on the [...]
[...] and even travel together now) and I hadn’t returned since. So when I made plans to attend Jawsfest, my mom jumped on board and invited along her boyfriend, his daughter and one of her friends as [...]