Lily Wood had been to many comic-con events over the past several years and felt Penticton residents would jump on board if they brought an event “celebrating all things pop culture” to town.
She was right.
Last year’s inaugural The Penti-Con event went off without a hitch and attracted several hundred people to the Lakeside Resort.
"We were very pleasantly surprised with the response, especially for a first-time event," she said. "We wanted to make things bigger and better this year, so we've decided to expand to two days and move to a bigger venue at the Penticton Trade & Convention Centre. We're pretty excited at how far we've come and we're hoping for a fantastic event this weekend."
The Penti-Con is a family friendly event featuring contests, costumes, games, workshops, vendors and special guests, said Wood.
She and the organizing committee of 14 are hoping for a crowd of more than 1,000 people over the course of the two-day event, said Wood.
One of the highlights will be a special appearance by Garret Wang, who is most noted for his role as Ensign Harry Kim on Star Trek Voyager, which ran from 1995 to 2001. In 2005, Wang played the role of Chow Ping on the television mini-series Into the West, which had legendary Steven Spielberg as executive producer.
In 2010, Wang was named the director of Trek Track for Dragon Con, becoming the first actor to work behind the scenes at the renowned convention.
“Being able to attract an actor the calibre of Garrett Wang to our little celebration of pop culture is pretty exciting,” said Wood.
Also making an appeareance will be voice actress Chantal Strand, who has provided the voice in cartoon shows such as Dragon Tales, Hamtaro and Sabrina: The Animated Series, where she played the characters of Gem, Pi and Bernard.
Strand has been a voice actress in animated films and cartoons for many years and was nominated for Best Supporting Performance in a Feature Length Drama.
She is currently working on the TV series My Little Pony: Friendship in Magic as the voice of Diamond Tiara and her mother, Spoiled Rich.
There will be The Penti-Con Idol singing contest, lip synching contest for kids, video games and a cosplay competition on Saturday.
Wood explained Cosplay is an event where participants not only help design their own costumes, but “basically become the character they are paying tribute to in mannerisms and voice … they try to become that character for a few hours.”
Gamers are welcome as there will be eight screens hosting various consoles all weekend.
There is also an entire room set aside just for board games.
There will also be baking competition where competitors are given random food items and have a limited time period to cook up a dish using those ingredients.
When people first arrive at the show, there will be an information booth in the main exhibition hall. This is where all questions regarding the competition can be answered, and where you will need to go to sign up and/or check in.
Participants can enter various competitions as individuals or in groups (up to 10 per group).
There will also be more than 60 vendors on hand, said Wood.
A remote box office will be set up on Saturday and Sunday, at the Entrance 2 site for sales and will call ticket pick up. The remote box office opens at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.
A weekend pass for adults is $30. A one-day pass is $20. A day pass for youth ages 6 to 12 is $10 and $15 for both days.
Wood is inviting anyone who has never been to an event like this to check it out as they will be pleasantly surprised at how much fun people are having.
“I say keep an open mind and come down to experience everything we have to offer and I have no doubt they will find something that tickles their fancy,” she said. “It’s basically two full days of fun and games. We’re also keeping our ticket prices low so every member of the family can come down and enjoy themselves.”
For more information, go online and visit www.thepenti-con.com.
