‘Fallout’ Fan Celebration returns to Goodsprings with biggest lineup yet

Stephen Staats just wanted to buy a bar.

He wasn’t looking to launch a pop culture festival tied to one of the most popular video game franchises around. But when that bar is in Goodsprings, where “Fallout: New Vegas” begins, well, the entrepreneur also known as Old Man Liver just couldn’t resist.

Now in its fourth year, the “Fallout” Fan Celebration is expected to bring around 6,000 people to the historic Pioneer Saloon, known in-game as the Prospector Saloon, from Friday through Sunday. That’s roughly the same number of attendees as last year, when the event was free. Tickets to this year’s festival are $45 a day or $60 for the full weekend. (See falloutfancelebration.com.)

Staats insists no one’s getting rich off the admission fees. He’s just hoping to break even. Staats says he’s spending tens of thousands of dollars on security, staffing and buses that will ferry attendees from Buffalo Bill’s and back.

“It’s hard to make that back on burgers and beer,” he explains.

Among the additions — and additional expenses — this year are appearances by “Fallout” actors Rodrigo Luzzi (Reg McPhee), Leer Leary (Davey) and Cameron Cowperthwaite (Monty), along with Michael Harvey, the show’s Emmy-nominated makeup artist, and Cary Gunnar Lee, the special effects wizard who helped bring the Power Armor to life. (Season 2 of “Fallout” debuts Dec. 17 on Prime Video.)

Voice actors and developers from the video games will be there, too, as panels at the Pioneer Saloon will celebrate the 15th anniversary of “Fallout: New Vegas” (10 a.m. Saturday) and the 10th anniversary of “Fallout 4” (10 a.m. Sunday).

The celebration has grown so big, this is the first installment that Staats didn’t schedule by himself. This weekend’s activities were put together by what he calls the “Fallout” Committee — “our core group of hardcore ‘Fallout’ fans” who began planning this festival a couple of weeks before last year’s took place.

One of the key components, the annual Goodsprings Walk, returns at 9:30 p.m. Friday. Led by Staats, the tour stops at real-world locations featured in the game. The walk benefits Fallout for Hope, a group of fans, gamers, streamers and content creators that raises money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and other causes.

The walk also serves as a way to benefit the small community of Goodsprings. The volunteer fire department, a stop on the tour, sold T-shirts last year. Staats makes personal pleas for Goodsprings Elementary School, another “Fallout” location, during the walk. “Why don’t we throw the teachers some love?” he says. “I’m sure they need some equipment and stuff that’s not supported.”

The biggest change this year is that registration and parking, two of the biggest hurdles last year, have been moved to Buffalo Bill’s, aka the Bison Steve Hotel in “Fallout: New Vegas.” The real-world hotel closed in July, but the “Fallout” Fan Celebration is one of the handful of events each year for which Buffalo Bill’s will reopen.

Mojave Mayhem, which began last year as a closing party, is getting a full day of activities at Sandy Valley Ranch. From 9 a.m.to 5 p.m. Sunday, attendees can expect music, food, drinks and a car show. The cosplay contest (1 p.m.) has been moved there, Staats says, because it’s outgrown the stage at the Pioneer Saloon. From 5 to 9 p.m., though, Mojave Mayhem is a 21-and-over affair, featuring what he calls “an apocalyptic circus-like atmosphere” with fire dancers and a burlesque show.

That’s part of the plan to alleviate congestion in the community of around 200 people, where lines to get into the Goodsprings General Store, yet another site from the game, stretched down state Route 161 and spilled into traffic as fans waited hours to buy the event’s official T-shirt.

“We didn’t realize people also were really fascinated with our ‘Fallout’ milkshakes, which take 12 minutes each,” Staats says of the other must-have general store offering.

“I think people will find the lines very manageable compared to last year.”

Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567.