Since 2000, Phoenixville has been the host city of the annual Blobfest, a festival that celebrates the 1958 film, “The Blob,” which was mostly filmed in Phoenixville, writes Emmett Lindner for The New York Times.

The sci-fi horror film about a murderous, insatiable, and ever-ballooning hunk of alien matter opened in theaters with less-than-ideal reviews from critics.

However, for many other viewers, the film became a cult classic among the likes of “Creature From the Black Lagoon” and “The Fly.”

The three-day festival takes place in and around the Colonial Theatre on Bridge Street in Phoenixville, the site where a pivotal scene in the film where a crowd of moviegoers spills out of the theater and into the street to escape the blob.

Festival attendees often recreate the scene throughout the weekend.

According to Jennifer Carlson, executive director of the Colonial, Blobfest was first “organized by a group of volunteers who just thought it would be a good idea to celebrate the theater’s role in the film.”

“There was a lot of local pride in the film because so many people who live in Phoenixville have family members who were extras,” she added.

The Blobfest has brought together intergenerational fans of the cult classic film since 2000.

Read more about the 25-year-long Blobfest in Phoenixville at The New York Times.