Montréal extends a warm bienvenue to pop culture this weekend at the Comiccon de Montréal as thousands of pop culture enthusiasts are expected to flood the Palais de Congrès dressed up as their favorite characters and to meet their favorite stars and artists.
Previously held at Place Bonaventure, the Con is now in its third year at the Palais de Congrès. The crowds on Friday filled the convention floor and the amount of people in attendance surprised many of the exhibitors. Many of the fans streaming through the Palais expressed their delight at the event’s steady growth and their enthusiasm bodes well for the rest of the weekend. Organizers have switched up the floor plan from last year’s event. The celebrities have been moved to the other side of the hall allowing fans to funnel through artist alley and the rest of the exhibitors before getting in line to get autographs. Friday’s events closed with a special Q&A with fan favorite and comic book aficionado, Kevin Smith.
Some of the weekend’s planned highlights include appearances by celebrities like Jason Momoa, Billie Piper, Hayley Atwell, Karen Gillan and Ron Pearlman. Fans of Guardians of the Galaxy will be treated to a Q&A session with director James Gunn and cast member Michael Rooker.
Video games were well represented with booths featuring popular titles such as Turok, and Lego’s line of Marvel and DC licensed games. Ubisoft’s booth was teaming with activity as fans had the chance to check out the latest on games such as Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate and Rainbow Six: Siege. There was also the Indie Gaming Alley sponsored by Multijouer that featured video games created by start ups and independent game developers. The Indie Gaming Alley gave gamers a chance to play the games as well as to chat with some of the developers.
Some of the panels on the weekend’s programming schedule include Comment donner vie à des briques LEGO? Animation d’un brickfilm, Turning Passion into Profit: Starting Your Own Game Studio, Where are the Queer Superheroes? and The Idiot’s Guide to INVESTING in Comic Books Year 2.
Cosplay was well represented at Comiccon de Montréal. The convention hall was filled with a plethora of amazing costumes and enthusiastic cosplayers. The atmosphere inside and outside of the exhibit hall reflected Montréal’s appreciation for geek culture and bodes well for the rest of the weekend and next year’s convention when it all begins again next July.
