May 4 is a day for Star Wars fans around the world to celebrate their fandom, and it also happened to be the date for Vernon Comic Con 2024.
The massive pop culture event moved to the Vernon Recreation Centre this year, in order to fit in three times as many vendors as last year’s event, held at the Prestige Vernon Lodge.
Peter Kaz, creator of Vernon Comic Con, said with two hours still remaining that the event had already surpassed the attendance levels from last year, when more than 5,000 people came out.
“It’s been phenomenal,” Kaz said, adding the line out the door for the first four hours went from the rec centre to the Vernon Lodge, as people filtered in wearing costumes of characters from all sorts of TV shows, movies, comic books, games and more.
“I’m a Star Wars geek so anyone walking around with a lightsaber and I can hear the humming, I freak out,” Kaz laughed, when asked about the costumes he most enjoyed seeing.
“My heart explodes every year,” said Kaz, who first organized Comic Con in 2018. “When I see the amount of people, I get emotional. I always tell people that it’s a safe space, you can be whoever you want to be here and not get judged.”
Throughout the event space, people browsed the many products from the vendors, and asked one another for photos of costumes.
“It’s like one big community,” Kaz continued. “I don’t care if you’re three or 93, everybody’s got something to talk about here, and it’s wonderful.”
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