BUCKHANNON – Buckhannon will soon be getting its ‘Con’ on with the inaugural BuckhanaCon arriving this Saturday, May 18.
Slated for 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Event Center at Brushy Fork, the pop culture extravaganza – dubbed Buckhannon’s first comic and popular culture convention – is the first of its kind in the Buckhannon area.
A ‘Con’ is home to a plethora of pop culture materials, including TV shows, movies, comic books, anime and many other items, and the creator of BuckhanaCon, Catherine Fultz, said it will be a place that welcomes all of them.
“I specified when we first started organizing the Con that all fandoms would be welcome,” Fultz said. “There is no way I would seclude or not include anyone because you may not like video games, but you may like ‘Game of Thrones,’ and I wanted to give people a place to express that.”
BuckhanaCon will feature staples of a Con, such as a cosplay/costume contest, panels discussing various fandoms, vendors and artists.
Cosplay is the art of dressing in costume to portray a fictional character – usually one from comic books; animation; and science fiction or fantasy books, films or televisions shows.
“We will have a cosplay contest for both children and adults because I think it’s important to give children their own world different from adults because sometimes, they don’t have a chance [to participate in cosplay],” Fultz said.
She said there will be numerous artists and crafters in attendance, with some selling their work.
Specifically, look for painters, a blacksmith, a person who makes lockets filled with gemstones and multiple local artists.
“I really wanted to bring the community together with this Con,” Fultz said. “Even if people may not be inclined toward comic books or toward fandom, then they can see local artists and local crafters they might have never met before. We have a lot of artists who have never displayed their work before.”
Fultz said there will be a room devoted to board games and another room dedicated to Role Playing Games. (The RPG room has a schedule available on the BuckhanaCon Facebook page for those interested.)
“It’s a great opportunity for people to maybe sit down and relax and it gives people a chance to play a game in their own area away from the rest of the Con,” Fultz said.
Two special booths will be set up to help make this Con more interactive and unique, she added.
At one of the booths, the first 20 people who approach it will be given the opportunity to take part in a “quest,” similar to certain missions in video games where they can win a coupon book for almost all the vendors at the Con.
“It’s a pretty big deal if you win that prize,” Fultz said. “You could get some free stuff out of that coupon book – you could get discounts, and you can get serious money off purchases from all the amazing vendors and crafters we’ll have.”
The other booth gives the first 100 people the chance to also go on a quest, themed to the video game series, “The Elder Scrolls.”
Participants will be sent to look for a plant that appears in the game called “Nirnroot,”and once found, the participants will receive a reward for their achievement.
“We really wanted to bring more interaction to the Con,” Fultz said, “Instead of just coming to a convention where you walk around you see stuff you leave, we have a lot that you can interact with yourself as part of the Con.”
Part of that interaction also includes a chance for participants to get their picture taken and be part of the 2020 fundraiser calendar for the next BuckhanaCon.
So if you’re looking to take a break from the Strawberry extravaganza outdoors, head indoors for the first ever BuckhanaCon.
Tickets for BuckhanaCon cost $10 for those ages 13 and up; $5 for ages six to 12; and five and under are free.
“Affordability is really important to us,” Fultz said. “This is an event for families and people of all ages, and we will have some things for younger children as well. We will have some games set up, and the table filled with crayons and books and all kinds of stuff. So, if a mom needs to just sit for a second, she can come and sit for a second because that’s important to us as well.”
