We had a chance to check out Fantasy Con this weekend and I
have to say WOW! It really is amazing. Hosted at the Salt Palace right from the
moment you hit the outer lobby area, I mean before you even reach the ticket
sales area you are greeted by a 3 story tall Rock monster and a beautiful dragon
and knight fountain. That is even before you enter.
We got there when it opened and the lines were already long.
The people attending were SO fun to watch. I think Jeff and I were amongst about
10% that were not dressed up. People were coming dressed to the nines. We encountered
everything from elves, dothraki, star wars characters, harry potters, Disney characters, videogame characters…really
every type of character you can imagine. Some were “pro” cosplay people but
most were just attendees that were into the spirit of the weekend.
Once inside the area was broken up into several different “realms”
all centered around a great “battle arena” where people in full battle regalia
(like knights) were continually doing “battle”.
There was an amazing hall of art featuring huge pieces by famous fantasy
artists. There were several stages that provided a constant stream of
entertainment featuring everything from arerial acrobatics to magicians. There
was also a whole isle of celebrities that were there for pictures and
autographs (for a price). Tons of people from the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit
shows were there, even Johnathan Rys-Davis, Sean Aston and Billy Boyed. I was
surprised at how tall they all were, I mean none of them were topping 6 feet
but they were way taller than I pictured the dwarves and hobbits being (lame of
me!). There were also so many larger than life sets that you could get pictures
at and many, many booths offering everything fantasy themed that you could
possibly imagine.
I could go on and on describing things but I'll let some
pictures from the event speak for me.
