(a post a friend put up in another forum. And I might add, that I really need to pay more attention to the world... I had no idea that there was a town called Metropolis outside of the Superman comics. Granted its as big as Smallville is in the tv show.)
June 8-11 is the Superman Celebration in Metropolis, IL. The real Metropolis is more like the size of Smallville than the comic/movie/TV Metropolis. Every year they have the celebration there are contests, guest stars and of course the riverboat casino is in town too.
This year, the guest list includes: Michael Rosenbaum (Lex), Noel Neil (the original Lois Lane), actor Scott Cranford (he won a contest 6 years ago and has been playing Superman for the celebration ever since), comic writer Marv Wolfman (Former Editor-In-Chief of Marvel Comics) and Steve Rude (
http://imdb.com/name/nm1668658/).
Last year, John Schneider was the main guest, along with Noel Neil (who comes every year) and Margo Kidder (the movie Lois Lane).
Metropolis also boasts the Superman statue in front of the courthouse.
Here is a link to info about the celebration
http://www.supermancelebration.net (but they don't have all the content up yet).
I grew up 20 minutes from Metropolis and have attended the celebration many times. There is no admition fees to the autograph signings, although some individual guests may charge for extra items or pictures. Last year, John Schneider signed pretty much everything we brought (lots of old Dukes of Hazzard stuff and one of his records) and didn't charge anything.