THUNDER BAY - You never know who or what you’ll encounter at ThunderCon, but one thing you can always count on is no matter what you love, who dress up as, or how long your cosplay took to make, you will find others just like you.
For Brittany Robertson and Rachel Harris, who attended their first ThunderCon dressed as their favourite video game characters, it was a chance to meet others just like them and take in everything the annual comic, sci-fi, fantasy, and gaming convention has to offer.
“That’s how it started, our love of video games, and we thought if we could emulate that a little and meet a bunch of new people who love the same thing,” Harris said. “I guess that’s the spirit of ThunderCon.”
The fourth annual ThunderCon wrapped up on Sunday after thousands of people spent the weekend celebrating everything geek. From special guests stars of popular sci-fi shows, movies, and comics, to panel discussions about Klingons or podcasting, gaming of all types, more than 50 vendors, and of course, cosplay, there was something for everyone.
Heather Dickson, media director for ThunderCon, said each year the annual convention grows by leaps and bounds.
“We’ve surpassed attendance,” she said. “We don’t have the numbers yet, but we had more online registrations by Thursday at noon than all of last year. We’ve had really great attendance.”
There is no other convention of this size in Northern Ontario, which Dickson said is a big reason it has become so popular.
“We are isolated so we’ve got to do it here. I think people just want to play,” she said. “It could just be the popularity of pop culture, of movies, anime, and TV shows and books and gaming. Gaming is really huge in the north.”
But ThunderCon might be growing too big. Dickson said the Valhalla Inn is the only venue large enough to support it, but even that doesn’t seem to be enough.
With no other options, Dickson said organizers might consider possibly expanding it to multiple venues to support the growing number of fans.
And that is the heart of ThunderCon, the fans, young and old, who want to celebrate the things they love most.
Actor Paul McGillion, who has appeared in 24, The Killing, The X-Files, and Stargate Atlantis, was one of this year’s special guests, and he said conventions like ThunderCon also celebrate the fans.
“There’s crazy popular shows out there, but only sci-fi has this sort of fan base following,” he said. “People come here, they dress up, the vendors are fantastic, the camaraderie is fantastic. It just has a vibe of acceptance and I think that is really special.”
“The fans are the reason we come to conventions like this,” McGillion continued. “As actors it’s a great way to meet the people who support your show. It’s an amazing event and this is especially a really fun one and it’s great to be here.”
There is no denying that anyone who walks through the door, or the Stargate that was setup on stage, is going to have an amazing, magical, or out of this world experience.
For Kelly Hill and his daughter, Emma, who were dressed as Android 16 and Android 18 from Dragon Ball, it’s their very own little daddy/daughter weekend full of costumes and excitement.
“I like seeing all the costumes,” Emma said. “The one I like the most I really like the Predator.”
“I love making the costumes and seeing other people’s costumes and how they make them,” Kelly added.
And it worked out really well for Robertson and Harris that ThunderCon was held so close to Halloween.
“We both put a lot of effort into our Halloween costumes this year so we figured we would come see what it’s all about,” Robertson said.
“That’s how it started, but we’ve been dabbling into the cosplay and this is our first real attempt,” Harris added.
This being their first year at ThunderCon, Robertson and Harris said they were surprised by everything it had to offer, comparing it to conventions in Toronto.
“All the costumes are really cool,” Robertson said. “They are above my expectations for sure. I thought ours were going to be really good but then we’ve seen some that are really awesome.”
When it came to just how many people in Thunder Bay like to celebrate all things geek, Robertson and Harris were a little conflicted about just how big they thought ThunderCon would be.
“I really I didn’t expect it to be this big,” Robertson said.
“I did,” Harris added. “I was kind of expecting it. I’m proud of Thunder Bay’s nerds.”
Organizers are now looking ahead to next year and Dickson said dates have already been chosen and will be released at a later time. As for what the fifth ThunderCon might have in store, Dickson only gave away one, tiny hint.
“I will just say Harry Potter,” she said. “That’s a good teaser.”
