Last year Anne Honeycutt attended Northwest Fan Fest dressed in a hot pink and black DJ Hello Kitty outfit, complete with boom-box and rhinestone-encrusted headphones.
She didn`t need to search hard for inspiration. She's a Hello Kitty collector. Inside her home, you'll find a Kitty-adorned alarm clock, waffle iron, toaster, popcorn maker, dominos set, Chia Pet, three coffee cups, 10 sticker books and 13 makeup kits.
But it's not just all about Hello Kitty for Honeycutt. She also into comic books, Batman, and lots more.
She and her husband collect Rocket Racoon and Groot figurines and art together.
"I'm part of what you would call the local geek community," explained Honeycutt, 30.
That`s why she and thousands of others who are part of the "fandom" subculture are counting the sleeps until the start of the second annual Northwest Fan Fest, which takes places May 29 to 31 at the Anvil Centre in New Westminster.
She says the term "fandom" is best used to describe all of the things that are "quote geeky, and nerdy and pop-culture-related. It`s not just people that are into comic books, or into Star Trek, it`s everything people are fans of."
Organizers are expecting 5,000 or so fans of comics, games, anime, sci-fi, cosplay and alternative fashion to attend the three-day fest.
NWFF 2015 includes a costume contest, local and visiting guests from the creative industry, live musical and improv performances, panels on all areas of fandom, gaming tournaments, a vendors hall and more.
Brian Hughes, show director, has been working for nearly a year on the NWFF lineup, which includes, among others, legendary animator-director Tom Cook whose credits includes Scooby-Doo and the Flintstones, and cast members from the popular B.C.-filmed TV series Once Upon a Time.
Hughes, who owns Gamedeals Video Games in New West, said there's "something for everyone – every type of fandom. All the nerdy, geeky stuff."
Honeycutt, 30, was so excited after attending the inaugural NWFF last year that she`s signed on as programming liaison and guest relations co-ordinator for this year`s event.
Conventions are nothing new to her.
Her parents were sci-fi and Dungeon & Dragons fans, so her childhood was spent attending conventions like Norwescon and Sakura-Con in Seattle.
"We watched Star Trek as a family."
"To be honest I`m looking forward to everything possible," she said about the fest. "I am really, really excited about the kids' costume contest because that`s kind of how I got into comic books and video games and that stuff because my parents would take me to the conventions and dress me up like Indiana Jones, which everyone thought was awesome."
NWFF also boasts an exhaustive list of interactive panels, everything from Pokemon trivia to geek girl culture.
"It talks about being a woman, being a geek, the good things about, kinda the not so good things about it," explained Honeycutt, who will be a panelist for the discussion.
One of the things Honeycutt enjoys most about these gatherings is being around a bunch of like-minded fans. For her, the term "fandom" means community.
"I grew up my whole life feeling like I was weird because I was really into things other girls weren't into, even the boys I grew up with weren't really into."
For instance, none of the other kids at her school made a swooshing Star Trek sound effect when walking through doors.
"If you are into something a lot, or even a little bit, you should be able to go to this convention and find a least one other person who likes the same thing you like at the exact same level," Honeycutt said.
"It's going to be an amazing experience for everyone in the family."
NWFF takes place May 29 to 31 at the Anvil Centre. Tickets are $20 for a day pass and $50 for full weekend pass. For more information, visit northwestfanfest.com.
