This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Star Trek franchise hitting our screens. To celebrate, Garland Cultural Arts and the "It Came From Texas" film festival are bringing "Boldly Going to Garland," a one-day celebration honoring six decades of Star Trek, to the Palace Theater this month.
Festival director Kelly Kitchens told NTX Now's Miranda Suarez that Star Trek is famous for pushing boundaries on television other pieces of media would not dare to, like introducing a Russian character during the height of the Cold War.
Kitchens says it showcased the importance of equality and belonging.
"It showed when they were in the platform running the ship, they were all equal," she said. "They all got along."
"I really feel like people felt like, 'Oh, Uhura belongs, Sulu belongs, why can't I belong?'" Kitchens went on. "And I think that everybody wants to belong and to whatever they want, but Star Trek really captures that so beautifully."
The Boldly Going to Garland event opens at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Sep. 12 and Mayor Pro Tem Christopher Ott will begin the festival at 10 a.m. with a multi-city proclamation.
There will panels, trivia, a screening of an episode from the original series, and a few film screenings.
The festival runs until about 11pm and you can grab tickets here.
Miranda Suarez is a co-hosts of KERA's NTX Now. Got a tip? Email Miranda at msuarez@kera.org.
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