Annual Marshmallow Fluff festival goes virtual this September 12 (plus, a story about Fluff fandom)

Another event is going virtual. The quirky What the Fluff? festival can't happen as planned at their in-person location of Union Square in Somerville, Massachusetts, so they are taking it online this year. The live-streamed festivities happen Saturday, September 12 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. EDT.

You may not know this but I'm a Marshmallow Fluff super fan.

I make art (and art-products) inspired by Fluff. I also collect art inspired by Fluff. People gift me Fluff-inspired art. My logo is a visual portmanteau of the iconic Fluff jar and my last name. I spend hours every holiday season making my mom's award-winning Fluffernutter Fudge to bring to parties and to give to friends. If there's a news article about Fluff, my inbox will be filled with emails from folks making sure I saw it. My identity is forever enveloped in the sugary sweet white stuff (not as messy as it sounds!).

"In Fluff We Trust" pennant by Rusty Blazenhoff (March 2020)

But even I didn't know that I was a super fan of Fluff until I saw it in print. In 2017, Fluff celebrated its 100th anniversary. The book that tells its tale, "Fluff: The Sticky Sweet Story of an American Icon" by Mimi Graney, was published that same year. In the chapter "Ladies Love Fluff," Mimi shared a story of mine about how I wrote to Durkee-Mower, the company who makes Fluff, about its fictional lady mascot. It starts, "Rusty Blazenhoff, a Marshmallow Fluff super fan, wrote to Lynne White in 1996."

A Fluff super fan? I was shocked to read those words. They say fish can't see water and, 20 years in swimming in the world of Fluff, I certainly hadn't seen the obvious. I'm cool with the title now but, I'll be honest, I couldn't finish reading the rest of what Mimi wrote in the book until last year.

Blazenfluff dish towels

Now, Mimi Graney didn't just author the 100-year Fluff history book where she properly pins me, she also founded the Fluff festival fifteen years ago. I've been and it's a hoot! I'm looking forward to checking out its virtual presence.

All hail, Marshmallow Fluff!