All photos by Andre Gagne.
Lock up your Tardis and park your DeLorean because there’s still time to get your geek on this weekend at the 2016 Ottawa Geek Market and Capital Gaming Expo at the Nepean Sportsplex. Where else are you going to see the Hulk hobnobbing with Hobbits, Chewbacca exchanging grooming tips with Dumbledore or Batman sharing a java with Papa Smurf?
Stacey Young, Co-Founder and Lead Organizer of the Geek Market, had been playing board games for as long as she could remember when she got the idea to turn it into a hobby. She started making jewellery out of the game pieces to sell at a few local events but soon realized that there should be more areas that catered to the type of pop-culture merchandise she enjoyed crafting.
The wheels where turning faster than the Millennium Flacon jumping to light speed. Young, who is disabled and unable to actually be out much due to severe chemical sensitivities and fragrance allergies, needed some help. Who you gonna’ call? No, not the Ghostbusters but your friendly neighborhood Lego dealer, Karen Fraser. The two put their heads together and the Geek Market started to take shape.
Catherine Burt of Peekaboo Cosplay
“It’s surprising just how much work goes into organizing an event. Everything takes longer than you expect and there are a lot of logistics to consider,” explains Young. “Each facility that we’ve held our event at has very different rules and requirements. Each floor plan needs to be carefully considered to make sure that the flow of traffic is right, that the right exhibitors are mixed in together, and that it visually looks good.”
Young wanted to ensure the Geek Market was something different than some of the other events of this nature that come to the city. Where conventions like ComicCon and Pop Expo bring in big name celebrities for Q&A’s, photo ops and autograph sessions, Young wanted the market to focus mainly on shopping while simultaneously allowing an affordable place for the cosplaying, gaming and local fandom groups to converge.
This year cosplay is taking centre stage with various events devoted to the ever-expanding culture. After you’ve filled your shopping bag full of T-shirts, comics, games and collectibles you can take in a panel on cosplay basics, see the various creations at the market’s formal masquerade or meet one of the cosplay guests.
“I fell in love with the workmanship of it,” says one such guest, Catherine Burt of Peekaboo Cosplay, on why she started cosplaying. She’s created stunning renditions of the wicked Maleficent as well as the wholesome Glinda of Oz, to name a few. “For a lot of people it’s about becoming the character. They see a character and fall in love with the movie or show and they want to be able to become that. It started out that way for me but now I enjoy the challenge of actually creating these things.”
When it comes to cosplay some might wonder just where to begin within a culture that seems to have limitless avenues to pursue. Whether you’re are an enthusiast, masquerade master or simply just cos-curious, Comic Girl Cosplay was ready with a few tips at her workshop.
“Makeup is not only for female cosplayers,” she told the crowd that had gathered also suggesting they do a lot of research, embrace costume creation failures, not underestimate the finds to be discovered at thrift stores and consider the amount of time and finance they want to put into their creations. The right pose, she adds, is also important. “Even potatoes can look great in photos with the right posing. Just look at French fries!”
Some of the items available at the 2016 Ottawa Geek Market.
Across the hall patrons can visit the Capital Gaming Expo where everything from video games, board games, tabletop RPGs and LARPing are represented. No longer just inside the pages of a Harry Potter book, here you can also find out how to join a local Quidditch team.
“We play Muggle Quidditch so we don’t use magic,” explains Alex Naftel of the Carleton Ravens. “We’ve had to adapt a lot of the original things from the Harry Potter sport so we could play it.”
Visit the Market, you must.
The Geek Market has included a charitable element from the beginning having raised funds for the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre at past events. It also offers the Ottawa Geek Market Arts Scholarships.
“At the last event we supported visual arts and gave out three $1,000 scholarships. One for cosplay, one for sculpture, and one for drawing”, Young says. “This event we’re supporting the written word and have three categories again: horror, sci-fi, and fantasy.”
With a constant flow of panels and games, a green screen photo booth, the wide assortment of different merchandise tables and a Geek Quest Scavenger Hunt, there’s really something for the whole family to enjoy and this year admission is $2 less on Sunday if you come in costume. Looking around the Nepean Sportsplex this weekend you can see Ottawans have no problem donning some capes, tights, faux fur, masks and makeup.
“Ottawans have always been geeky,” says Young. “It’s just becoming more accepted and mainstream. I’ve considered myself a geek most of my life and I’m happy to see so many others embrace this part of who they are.”
The Geek Market opens up again Sunday morning April 10 from 10-5. Admission is free for children under the age of 12.