Actionfest, the first festival for action films, is by far the coolest event you will read about (and hopefully see) this week.

The festival features 25 action films with stars from across the globe, as well as a free stunt show and a tribute to action legend Chuck Norris who will be on hand to accept a lifetime achievement award.

Set to kick off on Thursday, April 15, in Asheville, N.C., Actionfest will be a celebration of action films and the people who make them. To the creators' surprise, this event is the first of its kind.

"At other festivals action films are ghettoized," Tom Quinn, Actionfest's head programmer, tells Asylum. "They're either midnight shows or available only at select screenings, and they usually comprise less than 5 percent of a festival's overall programming. Sometimes you won't even see an action film."

"We're going balls to the wall with the stunt show," says Aaron Norris, co-founder of Actionfest, former stuntman, and brother of Chuck Norris. "The performance will be bigger than the kinds featured in most action films, and it's live. We can demonstrate how we do a lot of what people see in the films."

Keep reading for more about Actionfest and a video that will seriously pump you up harder than any clip you've ever seen before.


"We've got some films with comedy, some drama, but it's all action at the core," says Quinn. "Players and distributors from all over the world put together the lineup. It's something new, international, local, and Chuck will be there to participate."

The world premiere of "Operation: Endgame," which has a huge cast, will take place at 10 p.m. on Friday, April 16. The film stars Ving Rhames, Zach Galifianakis, Rob Corddry and Emilie de Ravin, among others. Other major features Norris and Quinn say to look out for include "Centurion," "Harry Brown," "The Stranger" (starring Steve Austin), "Mandrill" and "Merantau," a Malaysian action film.

"Harry Brown" stars Michael Caine, who Quinn says "can wield a gun and get things done." He adds, "Action shouldn't just be for the young. One of the other goals of Actionfest is to try and show that there are core action fans, and some who don't realize they are."

In addition to a full slate of action films, the live stunt show on Saturday makes the festival one of a kind.

"The stunt show will open with the 'Spider-Man' stunt coordinator, Jeff Habberstad, one of the best in the business over the past decade," says Norris. "He'll be skydiving in with Kinnie 'The Rocket Man' Gibson, who will meet Jeff in-air with rocket belts on, as guys repel off buildings and do full burns."

"Action is still the number one genre film in the world," says Quinn, also the senior vice president of Magnolia Pictures. "The most heralded, top-selling actors have always been action stars, so we wanted to champion the people involved in those films and the stars from America, Asia and elsewhere."

Ticket information for the festival and the full lineup are available here. All profits from the festival go to Kickstart Kids, a program aimed to help school-age kids through martial arts training.

Most important, if you don't go to Actionfest, Chuck Norris will not be happy. And you don't want to make Chuck Norris unhappy.