CHARLOTTE – Hundreds of women and girls, and a few men, gathered together on Saturday to learn more about the newest fiction and fantasy phenomenon to hit the country.

Twilight fans young and old, donned themed garb and vampire-like makeup to attend the official convention at the Marriott Charlotte Executive Park.

In 2010, the official Twilight Convention will travel to more than 25 locations nationwide. Gary Berman, co-CEO of Creative Entertainment, the host organization of the event, said it’s a great chance for people with a common interest to come together and form friendships and kinships. He even equated attending a convention to going to a football game.

Dawn, Lakin and Hayley Adams from Marion, Va. shop for photos of their favorite characters on Saturday at the official Twilight Convention in Charlotte.

“People are fans of sports teams. They pay a lot of money to go to games, wear jerseys, they’re all painted up. It’s even more bizarre,” Berman said. “And, you don’t get to meet the quarterback.”

He said it is just another way for people to engage in social interaction.

“Society is segregated into microcosms according to interests,” Berman said. “And this is just one of those microcosms.”

For the teenage girls who came out to meet the celebrities and buy the latest Twilight swag, the concept of the convention is a little simpler.

“I just really love the series,” said 13-year-old Nicolet Gallo of Fort Mill, S.C. Her father, Bobby J. Gallo, took her to the convention as a birthday present. “She’s obsessed with the series,” he said. “I knew how much it meant to her.”

Kelsey and Haley Rudd, teens from Louisburg, W.Va., pose with a cut-out of their favorite character as their aunt, Amy Wykle, takes a photo on Saturday at the Twilight Convention.

Other convention-goers traveled great distances to get the chance to meet members of the Twilight cast.

Kelsey and Haley Rudd of Louisburg, W.Va. made a girl’s weekend out of going to the convention. “We love the story and just thought it would be a fun weekend,” said Kelsey Rudd. Their aunt, Amy Wykle, came up with the idea but admitted she didn’t quite know what she was getting herself into. “I said to myself, what am I thinking?” Wykle said.

The jam-packed weekend consisted of question-and-answer sessions, photo-ops and autographs with cast members like Peter Facinelli and Charley Bewley, a “vampire ball,” exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and trivia contests.

Vendors sold jewelry charms with sayings associated with the Twilight series at the official Twilight Convention on Saturday at the Marriott Charlotte Executive Park.

Vendors were also on hand selling the latest Twilight swag--T-shirts, jewelry, temporary tattoos, photos and life-size cutouts.

“In just three years, we’ve sold over 75,000 Jacobs,” said L. Michael Salazar, the national sales manager of Advanced Graphics, the manufacturer of life-size cutouts of the movie’s characters. “It surpassed 20 years of our best-selling Elvis.”

The event also featured performances by the creators of the Hillywood Show, a group of young people that produces parody videos of different scenes from the Twilight series. The group is the official host of the convention.

“We’ve had more than 3.5 million viewers on YouTube,” said Hannah Hindi, co-creator of the Hillywood Show.

Hindi said they’re just a down-to-earth group of friends who are Twilight fans and actors. And Berman said that’s exactly the type of person that attends these conventions.

“There are always people who carry it to the extreme,” he said. “But 99 percent are regular folks who enjoy it.”