By George P.  Hassett

Have you ever watched “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and thought you could actually smell the tasty treats? On Saturday in Union Square, you will be able to watch Gene Wilder onscreen and actually smell his candy confections at Som-R-ville in Smell-O-Vision, the first event in this year’s ArtsUnion series.

Megan Dickerson came up with the idea for the event and is organizing each of its segments focusing on scent: “Willy Wonka in Smell-O-Vision” and a “Carnival of the Nose.”

The carnival will feature a variety of activities to help festival goers investigate their sense of smell, said Melissa Hale Woodman of the Somerville Arts Council. Exhibits will include a table where participants match scents to local businesses and a station exploring scent memory.

“The sense of smell is connected to the part of the brain that registers emotion,” Dickerson said. “Smells can trigger happiness, anger or childhood memories. I want to explore that.”

Dickerson, who works at the Children’s Museum in Boston, said her creation is inspired by the failed attempts in the 1960s to add scents to film screenings. The first film projected in smell-o-vision, she said, was the 1961 movie “Scent of Mystery” in which audience members were treated to such aromas as the femme fatale’s perfume.

Dickerson said she chose to match smell-o-vision with “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” because the film’s character and storyline match her “crazy experiment.” When blueberry flavored candies appear on-screen in the movie, a hot blueberry pie will be placed in front of a fan and the aroma will waft to the audience members, she said. The movie will feature Spanish subtitles and be accompanied by scratch and sniff packets to match the sugary smells created on screen.

‚ÄúIt shouldn‚Äôt be a passive experience where the audience sits back and watches the screen, it should be a community experience where audience members see, smell and interact with the movie,‚Äù she said. 

The aromatic event kicks off the second year of ArtsUnion, an arts series designed to bringing economic and cultural attention to a rugged stretch of concrete in a piece of the city bounded by highways and frequent traffic jams.  In just a short period of time, the series has brought more people and a new reputation to the square, said Mimi Graney of Union Square Main Streets, an organizer of the ArtsUnion series along with the Arts Council.

‚ÄúIt‚Äôs been wonderful.  It has brought new people to the square and built a new identity for it as a neighborhood that hosts quirky and inventive events,‚Äù she said.

The series biggest successes have been ‚ÄúWhat the Fluff?‚Äù a celebration of the gooey marshmallow  spread, and tours of the square‚Äôs many ethnic food markets, Graney said.  ‚ÄúWhat the Fluff?‚Äù drew more than 500 people to celebrate the sugary treats‚Äô invention in 1917 by Union Square resident Archibald Query and the tours are regularly filled to capacity weeks in advance.

Aside from its cultural benefits, the series has also helped the Union Square economy, she said. A University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth study concluded the series had generated $352,470 for vendors and surrounding businesses.

‚ÄúBusinesses in Union Square are doing better because of the arts.  Three businesses have grown by 20 percent in the last year and they credited the events and festivals with getting more people in their doors,‚Äù she said

On Saturday, Graney said she anticipates another successful night for the growing square and its art series.

Woodman said she is more familiar with Roald Dahl’s literary tale of Willy Wonka than it’s big screen adaptation, but she is looking forward to seeing the old film again. And smelling it new for the first time.