A banner for the event flies above Brighton, Michigan. Courtesy | Anna Broussard

As summer fades into autumn, the brisk weather and fall foliage unlocks a pop culture tradition of rewatching the 2000s comedy drama series “Gilmore Girls,” but visitors to Brighton, Michigan, were able to experience the show in real life.

On Sept. 21, Brighton township held the first ever “Destination Stars Hollow” festival to celebrate the changing seasons and the popular television show.

The festival transformed 41 local businesses into destinations within the TV series, drawing thousands of “Gilmore Girls” fans to the Michigan town.

“Gilmore Girls,” tells the story of a young mother and daughter navigating life, relationships, and coming of age, all with lots of coffee, set in the small town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut. The show, beloved by many, is centered around the autumn weather and has developed into a welcoming of the season change for most fans.

For Brighton locals Laura Boote and Kathleen London, their love of the show inspired the idea behind the festival, which they have been organizing for the past year, Chad Fedie, Boote’s boyfriend and event volunteer said.

“They are both big ‘Gilmore Girls’ fans and Laura always thought that Brighton reminded her of Stars Hollow,” Fedie said.

Boote, who lives half a mile away from downtown Brighton, wanted to bring exposure to the recently remodeled town and felt that this was the best way to support local businesses. The pair hopes to make this an annual event, Fedie said.

London, owner of Brighton’s “London’s Beauty,” a beauty supply store, transformed her shop into “Lorelai’s House” for the day.

She originally presented her and Boote’s idea to the local businesses of Brighton a year ago, said Whittney Kelly, a nail technician at Tribute Salon and Spa.

“We are really grateful for the exposure for all these local businesses,” said Kelly, whose nail spa became “The Dragonfly Inn” for the day. “It is insane how many people have showed up here today.”

The town of approximately 7,000 was flooded by an estimated 13,000-16,000 people for the event, Fedie said.

“Twenty-six thousand people RSVP’d on Facebook and 16,000 RSVP’d on Eventbrite,” Fedie said.

“Gilmore Girls,” which has been a popular show since it first aired in October 2000, has a large fanbase of all ages, Brighton local Kaylyn Clemens said.

“I rewatch the show every fall, and I have watched it maybe eight times,” Clemens said.

Clemens, who is a senior at Howell High school, said the turnout was impressive for the small town.

“I have homecoming tonight and I did not expect to see so many people here when I was just coming to get my nails done,” Clemens said.

The festival brought fans from all over the country and even the world, said Toni Reese, owner of Running Lab sneaker shop.

“I heard there was someone here from Virginia and someone told me they were from London, England,” Reese said.

Running Lab, which was given the location of Stars Hollow High, was decorated with autumn colors. Reese stood at the front handing out stickers for customers to fill out their “Stars Hollow Passports.”

Through registering online, festival attendees could purchase a “Destination Stars Hollow” passport to collect stickers. After acquiring 20 stickers attendees had the opportunity to win a prize.

The festival featured “Destination Stars Hollow” merch, including tote bags and T-shirts designed by Boote.

“She and Kathleen came up with the idea and she has been working really hard for the past year on it,” Fedie said.

Each business had a specific destination from the series that were picked out by Boote, according to Fedie.

Some of the other destinations around the town included, “Kim’s Antiques,” “Stars Hollow Gazette,” and “Stars Hollow Books.”

With so many in attendance, the lines to enter into the businesses wrapped across the streets, some waiting over an hour to enter into the “Gilmore Girls” locations.

Hillsdale College junior Emma Rizzuti, who has watched “Gilmore Girls“ every autumn and attended the event, was excited to get out of Hillsdale for the day.

“I was really surprised that such a small town could get that many people to show up for something like that, because they didn’t have to change much about their town,” Rizzuti said. “They just invited people there and started decorating it a little bit differently, but because it was so busy, it was a little bit hard to enjoy since the lines were so long.”

The high attendance of the festival surprised both attendees and locals alike, Fedie said.

“I have lived in Brighton for almost half my life and I have never seen it this crowded ever,” he said.

Some attendees and residents were not familiar with the television series prior to the festival.

“I have never even seen the show and probably never will, but this is insane how much people care about it,” Kelly said.

Fedie, on the other hand, watched the entirety of the show in preparation.

“I have watched the entire show. It took me an entire year, but I have watched every episode,” he said.

For Rizzuti, the venture to Brighton was both fun and enjoyable.

“It was nice to leave Hillsdale, because, honestly, it is nice to get away a little bit,” Rizzuti said. “I wish it had been more fallish weather. It was quite warm out.”

But the heat did not stop attendees from enjoying food from Lynn’s on First, a small diner serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with the destination of “Luke’s Diner” to reminisce on the scenes of the TV series, Rizzuti said.

“It was a very fun idea and the town was so much like Stars Hollow, I loved the small town feel, even if there were so many people,” Rizzuti said.