History of TickleFest

From its humble beginnings as a weekend party in someone's home, TickleFest has grown into an annual affair, reminiscent of an alumni reunion, bringing together old friends and introducing new ones.

No better person exists to chronicle the history of this event than JonK, lovingly called by many the Father of TickleFest. He started with a desire to gather en masse all men interested in tickling, and created "The Roster", a list of these men that he compiled and mailed --- using envelopes and stamps --- to any man who asked.

Here's the rest of his story:


At the same time that I originally contacted everyone about The Roster, I also proposed that a first ever get-together of all male tickling enthusiasts take place. I offered that it be in the Fall and that everyone could come to my home. I sent out ‘registration’ forms and talked about it in my cover letter that went out with each Roster. In September 1993 the first Get Together occurred with a total of sixteen guys from several different states and Canada. We talked, we played, we tickled...

we had a good time. It was a liberating event that gave the opportunity for anyone who had never done so to meet and tickle another guy.

Each year as The Roster grew, so did the Get Togethers. The second year there were exactly double the number, thirty-two. The next year there were forty-two and then fifty the year after that. Each one was held in my home with participants staying in a near-by hotel that was within walking distance. Guys had come from all over the United States, as well as men from Canada and Europe.

By the fifth year I realized this had become something bigger than my home (or I) could keep up with. I also knew that it was reaching the critical point of event planning: the first event is a tentative success; the second one grows and gains credibility; by the third everyone wants to be a part of a successful tradition. If it’s still successful, the fourth will be about the same as the third, and by the fifth, people are going to start thinking it’s the ‘same old thing.’ I didn’t want that to happen, so I decided to make the fifth one the last one that I would host.
 

And now, with the 25th annual TickleFest on the horizon, we hope this event will continue to bring together men interested in tickling on to a 50th, a 75th, and even a 100th anniversary.