St. Albert’s pop culture fans are headed to Edmonton this weekend to geek out at one of the region’s biggest annual comic conventions.
Some 30,000 people are expected at the Edmonton Expo Centre this weekend for the Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo. The annual event, which started Friday, brings sci-fi, fantasy, gaming, and horror fanatics together for a three-day celebration of their favourite genres.
Expect to see scores of people dressed up as their favourite fictional characters, loads of merchandise and big stars like Star Trek’s Brent Spiner and Dr. Who’s Matt Smith and David Tennant, said expo founder Kandrix Foong.
“It’s kind of like an early Halloween,” he said.
St. Albert professional cosplayer Vicky “Vivid Vision” Lau will be rocking the convention floor this weekend dressed as Chun-Li from the video game Street Fighter and possibly horror antagonist Freddy Krueger.
“I’m a big nerd,” she said, with a chuckle, and conventions like this one give her a chance to hang out with people who share her interests.
Also at the show will be Paul Kane chemistry teacher Michael Ng, who’s doing three superhero-themed science education shows Saturday as part of the expo.
Ng said he planned to show guests how they could summon genies from a bottle like I Dream of Jeannie, turn glass silver like the Silver Surfer and shrink a chip bag like Ant-Man – except he’s using microwaves instead of Pym Particles in the latter case. He’ll also have three Paul Kane students as sidekicks this year for the first time.
“We’ve got a lot of good celebrities this weekend,” he said of the expo, adding that he hoped to check out the panels by the stars of The Flash and Arrow.
“It’s going to be really, really packed. The roster is just amazing.”
John Engel said he and his crew from Mission Fun and Games would be over in the vendor’s room with piles of games and toys for guests to splurge on.
“There’s a lot of cool things I’d like to get my hands on as well,” he added – assuming he had time to get away from his store.
“I’m lucky if I can sneak out to get a bite to eat.”
Getting ready for the con
Conventions such as the expo are a great one-stop shop for fans who can’t always get down to a comic or game store, Engel said. They also draw a lot of smaller vendors with unique, hard-to-find products such as customized Star Trek bow ties or Lord of the Rings cribbage boards.But they also require months of preparation for vendors, who have to predict what will sell and stock up in advance, Engel said. His store did well with discount game bundles last year, but will focus on newer items (such as the popular game Gloomhaven) this year.
“There’s been a tremendous influx of newer and licensed merchandise this year,” he said, and he’ll likely see hundreds of people visit his booth to check it out.
Lau said she was spending her free time this week printing cosplay photos and fixing her Chun-Li costume, the spiky bracelets from which were a bit busted after a recent Toronto convention. Costumes like it can take 20 hours to create.
Engel said fans who like cosplay should come to the expo on Saturday, as you’ll see the greatest number of cosplayers then. Take the LRT to avoid traffic jams, and pack a lunch and water to avoid the super-long lines at the food court.
“Get dressed up, get involved, get in there and have some fun.”
Tickets to the expo start at $20. Visit edmontonexpo.com for details.
