FanCon2016 in Cape Town, South Africa

This weekend I attended the very first FanCon event and I am hugely impressed! As you would have gathered by now, fantasy, gaming and sci-fi really isn’t my vibe. BUT! I do love conventions and I especially love them when the people are really passionate and excited about what they’re supporting. And who doesn’t know ComicCon, come on! So when I heard about FanCon I was really keen to see what the Cape Town scene had to offer and I have been suitably impressed!

Held at the Lookout Deck at the V&A Waterfront, SO much effort had been put into the event. From the WELL LAID OUT exhibition hall – yes, I’m putting that in capitals because more event coordinators would learn from this event. It was SUPER easy to navigate, which added to the enjoyment of the day.

I heard it was absolutely crazy on Saturday, but we only went on Sunday and it was perfect as it wasn’t too full. This way I could actually see things and take pictures. Upon entering, we were immediately met with a wall of class comics. I’ve watched enough Pawn Stars to know that these can be really valuable if well looked after and these looked amazing! There were also a few comic book stands with items for sale.

Next were game stands and things-for-games stands! I thought they were ornaments, but the Mr John explained that you buy the pieces to play with the games. Well some of the bits over a couple of hundred bucks! These games ain’t cheap!

There were a number of people happily playing the games in the game corner. Personally I didn’t know any of the games! I wore my My Little Pony t-shirt in solidarity of the event, but once I arrived I felt a sudden panic of, “Oh god! I hope no one asks me anything about any of this stuff as I have NO clue!!” Luckily, people were just really friendly, inviting and enthusiastic about their offerings.

There was an ‘artists lane’ where comic book writers, artists and illustrated displayed there wares. I LOVED so much of the stuff! Having done art for matric, I really have so much appreciation for art. It takes so much time and is so wonderful when an idea is brought to life. I liked these guys:

I hate pigeons! So I actually loved this as it made me laugh about what they might really be up to and are not just ‘feather headed’ creatures! I also LOVED Modern Dragon – about how dragons would survive these days! These artworks were AMAZING and so funny! The man told us that dragons are attracted to things of power, so instead of castles and jewels like the old days, now they like car keys and smart phones and things! So clever and cute!

Sophie the giant slayer was also cool, by Kay Carmicheal seen here with her stall. Kinda made me think of the BFG, wasn’t the girl’s name Sophie in there? Kay says she creates a new volume ever year I believe she said.

One of the best parts of the day (actually probably the best) was all the dressed up people! I didn’t know if people would really bother, but there was a cosplay competition that day so people went all out. As you made your way through the con, there were lots of characters about! Hilarious!

After exploring half the hall, we popped outside for a cool drink but found the ribs and grill truck which smelt AMAZING! So I had to have a mushroom burger, especially after the late night at Fiction the night before! They were very tasty, but I think Halaal as the meat was quite tightly packed. Anyway, this isn’t a food post! But yeah, they saved me, I was starving!

We then went inside to continue looking about, which is when we caught onto the cosplay competition that would be happening! Everyone gathered around and a cake was auctioned off in order to help literacy in less fortunate communities.

The hostess was quirky as all hell! It wasn’t that well organised so she kept asking, “What’s going on guys?” over the microphone LOL!!! Which, probably wasn’t the most professional thing to do, but she was really warm and funny and made everyone feel really welcome and included, which was great.

SO many people put SO much effort into their costumes! They looked amazing! I have no idea who 90% of these characters were/are, but I thought they were cool anyway. 🙂

After much deliberation, the judges announced the winners. But they announced them from 1st to last! Which was a bit silly cause I love a countdown, HAHA! Everyone did really well and it was great to learn what they were judging on:

1. Pre-juding – how well your costume is made (construction)
2. Detail – how well your costume represents the original
3. Performance – how well you presented your character on stage.

I learnt that your performance can play a bit role and that’s good! You have to keep in character to offer the best illusion possible. I liked that. This guy won, I dunno who he is/was meant to be:

Everyone did an amazing job, although I wish the giant had won. I mean, the man was in stilts the whole afternoon!

One of our observances was there wasn’t anything ‘fancon’ or limited editions specials available, which is quite common for conventions. However, my friend visited on the Saturday and she said there WAS specials, but they sold out in 2 seconds. So that was our loss, but nice that the event catered to that too – even though it came from the artists and suppliers themselves.

WELL DONE to the organisers of FanCon. I can only imagine this doubling in size next year. It was a great celebration of all things fantasy! Also WELL DONE to everyone who dressed up and put so much effort in to making it a great event. For people like me (not in the know), I had a great time.