BUCKHANNON – BuckhanaCon will return for a two-day extravaganza featuring cosplay, trivia and a Star Wars-themed quest to help participants become one with the force.
BuckhanaCon is a local convention open to all fandoms that started in 2019 after founder and organizer Catherine Fultz arranged a convention for her sister’s birthday. This will be the first year the convention has expanded to two days by popular demand, offering more activities and panels than ever. BuckhanaCon will take place June 10 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and June 11 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Stockert Youth and Community Center.
Tickets will be available for purchase at the door, and children three and under can enter for free; ages 4 to 12 will pay $5; and ages 13 and up will pay $10.
“I think Buckhannon has a lot of people who do not regularly get to just be themselves or express themselves in unique ways, but BuckhanaCon allows them to have that one space where they can dress up as whatever they want to be,” Fultz said. “Our goal is to always be affordable; our prices will probably never change, no matter how much we grow.”
Fultz also emphasized the event will always be family-friendly.
“There are so many events where it’s either for adults, or it’s for children, so the adults take the children, and the adults are bored out of their mind, and the children go with their parents, and they’re bored out of their mind,” Fultz said. “We tried to make an environment that’s fun for all ages. There are lots of vendors that adults can enjoy, and the kids can enjoy their games, quests and interactions, so everyone can participate and express themselves.”
Some of the popular returning events include the BuckhanaQuest, an activity that will last for the entire con. It will be structured to work like a fetch quest from a video game or an elaborate scavenger hunt. This year, returning performers Centauri Prime will be the quest masters, and it will be Star Wars-themed.
“Centauri Prime are recurring every year; they are a Star Wars troupe, so they will do another awesome Star Wars performance,” Fultz said. “They’re an amazing nonprofit organization, so they raise money for different charities.”
The cosplay contest and lip sync battle will also make a dramatic return, encouraging some friendly competition between participants.
“My personal favorite part is the cosplay contest because I get to see how everybody dresses up, how they built their costumes and how they put their love and soul into it,” Fultz said. “I technically compete in the lip sync battle, but I never actually win — I’m not allowed to win the belt.”
Fultz said most of the vendors have not been to the con before, but there are a wide variety of goods that will be available for purchase. She said some new vendors include jewelry makers, plushy makers, 3D print vendors and people making tie-dyed items.
“I’m pretty excited about some of our panels this year too, especially the ‘Dungeons and Dragons character building’ panel because I love the idea of playing D&D, but I’ve never been introduced to it properly,” Fultz said. “I’m also very excited about the ‘Cosplay on a Dime’ panel because I’m always looking for ways to make cosplays for cheap.”
All the concessions at the con this year will be prepared by the Rock Cave PTO to raise money for their school, and all the proceeds from the event will go to a charity raising awareness about suicide prevention.
“We choose a different charity every year, we haven’t chosen a specific organization yet, but the council voted to choose a charity about suicide prevention,” Fultz said. “The event is also solely operated by volunteers and fundraisers we do throughout the year.”
More details about BuckhanaCon’s activities throughout the year can be found on their Facebook page.
2023 BuckhanaCon Schedule of Events
June 10
- 10 a.m. — Opening Announcements
- 10 to 10:50 a.m. — Stranger Things Trivia
- 11 a.m. — Raffle Call
- 11:05 to 11:45 a.m. — SFX Makeup Tutorial
- 11:55 a.m. — Raffle Call
- Noon — Blood on the Clocktower Game
- Noon to 12:40 p.m. — Painting Groot Class
- 12:50 p.m. — Raffle Call
- 12:55 to 1:55 p.m. — Youth Cosplay Contest
- 1:55 to 2:55 p.m. — Adult Cosplay Contest
- 3 p.m. — Raffle Call
- 3:10 to 3:50 p.m. — Lip Sync Battle
- 3:55 p.m. — Raffle Call
- 4:05 p.m. — Centauri Prime Demonstration
- 6 p.m. — Closing Announcements and Final Raffle Call
June 11
- 10 a.m. — Opening Announcements
- 10:10 to 10:50 a.m. — Mixing a Passion for Gaming with Charity
- 11 a.m. — Raffle Call
- 11:05 to 11:45 p.m. — Digital Art Tutorial
- 11:55 a.m. — Raffle Call
- Noon to 12:40 p.m. – Cosplay on a Dime
- 12:50 p.m. — Raffle Call
- 12:55 p.m. — Roll for Art
- 1:45 p.m. — Raffle Call
- 1:50 to 2:30 p.m. – Game-making Demo
- 2:35 p.m. — Raffle Call
- 2:45 p.m. — Centauri Prime Demo
- 5 p.m. — Closing Announcements and Final Raffle
