Vicky Lau hasn’t been a high school student for a few years now, but she still gets the run of the place every October. She and her sister Jenny are the organizers of the extremely lively and colourful BelleroseCon, the Alberta Student Anime Festival, now in its seventh year.
The one-day-only event brings hundreds of youthful costumed enthusiasts known as cosplayers together in an atmosphere of play and camaraderie, all while supporting a worthy local charity.
It’s a very popular event with last year’s attendance around 600 people and interest continues to expand from outside the city’s borders.
“It’s still growing,” she said. “We do have a lot of participants coming from Edmonton and Calgary as well.”
Lau said the school has been very supportive and that many of the volunteers and attendees come from Bellerose. There’s a lot of preparation that goes into this one day but she still gets a thrill from organizing the affair.
“It’s a lot – a lot – of work. At the end of the day, I go home with nothing but the experience of having put something so big together and knowing that there’s so many people out there that came together that one day and made it happen for our charity. It’s just one of those moments that’s breathtaking.”
That charity is the Dogs with Wings Assistance Dog Society, the Edmonton group that trains and supplies assistance and guide dogs to people with disabilities. BelleroseCon donates all of its proceeds and it has brought in more than $15,000 for the charity.
Among the numerous activities people can check out today include video games and movies, of course. There will also be the artist alley, name that tune, the maid café and a living version of chess.
“Cosplayers actually play the role of a chess piece.”
There will also be three concerts including the Edmonton group Haru no Koe doing live cover performances of anime and j-pop songs.
For more information on Dogs with Wings Assistance Dog Society, visit www.dogs-with-wings.blogspot.com.
