Fans of science fiction and fantasy are as thrilled as battle elves from the Zyszyxor galaxy for this weekend’s Pure Spec Festival. The festival, running since 2005, has changed from its usual fall run to a mid-summer weekend fantasy. Despite the switch, it’s still a popular and one of the most enduring fan-run speculative fiction convention.
“The fall got really, really packed with stuff, not just the Edmonton Expo but gaming conventions and things like that, and once the expo is over, there’s a bit of a fatigue that sets in. We were getting a little tired of running the festival when it’s cold and snowy so we took a year off and shifted to the summer. We’re looking forward to it,” said organizer Brent Jans.
‘Spec’ refers to speculative fiction, where science fiction and fantasy generally reside, explained Barb Galler-Smith, a panellist at the fest and one of its guests of honour.
“It’s a term that’s very broad and inclusive. It’s anything that’s quirky or not mainstream. There has to be some element in it that’s not quite real yet, as in science fiction, or that we recognize that is not something that can really happen like magic,” the Edmonton-based author of the Celtic-based historical fantasy epic trilogy called Druids, Captives, Warriors said. She’s also the fiction editor of On Spec: The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic.
Galler-Smith will be front and centre with fellow On Spec editor Ann Marston during one of the breakout events, essentially a casual talk between them about anything and everything speculative. Attendees can also expect much of what you might see at comic conventions, such as security guards dressed up as Klingons. There will be a fair bit of pop culture representation in the form of discussions on Harry Potter and Star Wars light saber demonstrations.
A variety of artists and vendors will have a trade show for all to walk through and build up their personal collections of clothing, books and comics, artworks, decorations and other products. Apple Pi Designs will be there, offering its selection of decals, decorative signs and etched glass with the wide universe of pop culture as its inspirations. Owner/operator Erin Poulin said that she first heard about Pure Spec a couple of years ago at Animethon and thought it sounded interesting.
“It's basically a group of similarly nerdy people getting together and putting on a show. There's usually lots of interesting people to talk to at these types of things,” she said.
Chris Moet specializes in imaginative and dynamic genre art that is primarily inspired by science fiction with some fantasy and horror as well, according to the fest’s website. He’s also a huge science fiction fan.
“[That] is why I'm excited to be a part of Pure Spec. It is my favourite genre with horror being a close second, so a lot of my work tends to depict astronauts, mutants, robots, and aliens.”
He will have a booth with prints and buttons of his own artwork for sale, along with an assortment of mini figurines that he has custom painted too.
Attendees from the Edmonton Expo and St. Albert’s Eek Comic and Pop Culture Fest will certainly recognize his work.
Unlike the Expo, Pure Spec put its emphasis on local talents. Jans said that it isn’t as exclusive a community as some might think, suggesting that there’s really something for everyone.
“We’ve got the Echo Base Temple, which is the light saber guild. They’re going to come and do demos. We’ve got the local steampunk group coming out to do parasol duelling, which I didn’t even know existed. Apparently, it has been around since Queen Victoria. She was quite a duellist and actually started an academy in England.”
There’s also a Kendo group doing martial arts demonstrations, talks on the future of comic books, fictional witches and feminism, and guest of honour Vanessa Cardui will offer an intimate look at songwriting with an examination of her songwriting methods, tips, and ideas.
Galler-Smith and Marston will be joined by Diane Walton for the eagerly anticipated return of Pure Spec Idol! Slush Reading, a live evaluation of writing samples of local speculative fiction authors.
The schedule is full so people should check the website to plan their attendance out.
Admission is free. The festival runs on Friday and Saturday at the Alberta Avenue Community League, 9210 118 Ave. in Edmonton. Visit www.purespec.org for more information.
