RIVERSIDE

Trek Fest organizers dipped into a local talent pool for this year’s three-day festival in Riverside.

Or did they really?

Terry Farrell, a native of Cedar Rapids, is one of the featured guest stars for Trek Fest 39, which includes a 10 a.m. parade down Highway 22 Saturday in downtown Riverside and activities at Hall Park Thursday through Saturday.

If you’re a Trekkie, you may not actually remember Farrell by name. But you certainly know Jazdia Dax, the popular character she played for six seasons in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

There may not be a bigger TV wedding than the one she had with Worf, a Klingon raised by humans and who became the first Klingon to serve as an officer in Starfleet. And if you thought the wedding was big, then Jazdia’s death was even more momentous and stunning.

There are Trekkies who have designed their own weddings after Jazdia and Worf.

Saturday in Riverside, the real Klingon bride, will show up right there on Main Street, not far from the birthplace monument of Starfleet Captain and Admiral James Tiberius Kirk. Just a few years ago at a Star Trek convention in Las Vegas, Farrell wore the bridal costume once again for Trekkies.

Farrell, who also starred as “Reggie” alongside Ted Danson in the TV sitcom “Becker,” will be joined by actress and singer Bonnie Gordon.

Farrell, Gordon and Combs will participate in autograph sessions at 5 p.m. Friday at the Voyage Home History Center and at 4 p.m. Saturday at Riverside Fire Department.

Farrell left Cedar Rapids as a teen to become a foreign exchange student in Mexico, then returned to the United States as a model working in New York City. But for Trekkies? She is no Cedar Rapidian. She is a Trill from a planet in the Alpha Quadrant, and one of the special number of Trills harboring a symbiont inside her body.

Farrell was 29 years old in 1993 when she landed her role on Deep Space 9 as a science officer and Lieutenant Commander after graduating from Starfleet Academy.

The Trek connection did not end there. She married Adam Nimoy, the son of the most famous science officer in Trek history, Mr. Spock (or Leonard Nimoy), in 2018 on what would have been the 87^th birthday for Leonard, although the marriage lasted a little over two years.

Farrell’s popularity was so big on Deep Space 9 that in 2001 a discovered asteroid was named after her, 26734 Terryfarrell.

She left Deep Space 9 when she was attempting to work out a contract that would allow her to miss a number of episodes in Season 7 so that she could pursue other acting projects. The result was no contract and the death of Jazdia Dax, a move that some Trekkies online have said was the worst decision in Trek history.

To this day, Farrell has expressed a desire to reprise the Jazdia role as a clone or in a hologram.

“Jazdia Dax was the coolest character,” she said.

Among Farrell’s film credits: “Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth” and “Back to School.”

Joining her in Riverside this weekend is Gordon, who actually began her Star Trek years by serving as an actor on the bridge of Enterprise at Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas. She is an actress and singer whose voice-over credits include “Star Trek Prodigy” on Paramount+ and Nickoledeon.

David Q. Combs, who had a role in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” canceled his scheduled appearance at Trek Fest due to personal reasons.