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Geek culture, superheroes and video games take over Nanaimo

Sep 15, 2017 | 6:37 PM

NANAIMO — Superheroes, princesses, aliens and all manner of weird creatures can be found this weekend inside the Vancouver Island Conference Centre.

For the third year, M-Con is taking over Nanaimo for a weekend of cosplay and videogames, in the style of massive events like Comic-Con in San Diego and Fan Expo in Vancouver.

Marina Darling, outreach coordinator with M-Con, said the event brings a certain magic to Nanaimo and makes it a more inclusive community.

“I think for kids who feel a little bit different, or like things others don’t, this is a world where anyone can walk in and fit it,” Darling said of why having events like M-Con are so important. “I think dork and geek is the new cool genius.”

She said larger events like Fan Expo can be prohibitively expensive, which is why M-Con was designed to be cheap and accessible for everyone.

“Kids might think ‘I have a little dream,’ or ‘I would love to do that,’ but to have a place where you can actually meet people who are doing it is great.”

Throughout the weekend there’s video game competitions, workshops about how to properly design a cosplay costume and panels helping young readers get into comic books. Darling said M-Con isn’t just for the hardcore.

This year, M-Con profits go to the Children’s Wish Foundation.

“Nobody who’s working on this gets paid,” Darling said. “Everyone works like crazy when they’re not at their day jobs or living with multiple children. Every single penny that’s over and above what it costs to put this on is going to the Children’s Wish.”

Last year profits were donated to Nanaimo’s Boys and Girls Club and as a followup tickets were given to the children in the club.

In association with M-Con is Teenfest, an event at the Beban Park Social Centre designed to help children find their passion and discover what they want to accomplish in life.

The events start at 10 a.m. both Saturday, Sept. 16 and Sunday, Sept. 17.

 

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