Lafayette, LA
For a city that has been growing rapidly over the past few years, Lafayette has yet to attract a solid pop culture convention. Sure, there have been a few fan-run conventions, but they seem to be primarily focused on anime (LouisiAnime is a prime example). While there’s nothing wrong with having an anime-centric convention, it would be nice to have an event that takes in all aspects of geekdom, from horror to science fiction and everything in between.
On the weekend of October 17th, AVC Conventions changed all of that for the Lafayette area. Louisiana Comic Con (which took place earlier this year in Bossier City, LA, had its first event in Lafayette and, at least in my opinion, it was a major success. The event was attended by a solid amount of fans, nerds, geeks, and collectors. There was a long line waiting to enter the convention and there was also a long line for day-of-event ticket sales.
Foot traffic grew with each hour of the event on Saturday, and Sunday had a very nice crowd as well. The venue was sized right for the convention and there was a decent mix of vendors, comic artists, and celebrities. A few guest cosplayers were also on hand.
A highlight for me was getting to meet Lew Temple (Axel from The Walking Dead) and Donald Fullilove (Mayor Goldie Wilson from Back to the Future). The Walking Dead cast members have consistently been some of the friendliest celebrities that I’ve ever met, and Lew Temple did not disappoint. I talked to him about his character’s death in TWD and his character’s death in The Lone Ranger. I told him that he was becoming another Sean Bean and he quickly told me that he was actually killed in a film by Sean Bean (whose character later died in the same film)! It was fun moment that bled over into talking about Carol from TWD with the people in line behind me.
Meeting Donald Fullilove was my primary goal at this convention. Mayor Wilson (particularly 1950’s diner employee Goldie Wilson) has always been one of my favorite characters from the Back to the Future franchise. Fullilove was extremely cordial, and was taken aback by my “very Louisiana, very French” last name. He was a very cool guy and I’m glad that I got to meet him.
I also got to hang out with some of my friends from the Lafayette area as well as the lovely lady’s of Orion’s Envy. The Just Us League showed up on Sunday (with the Discount Dark Knight trying to keep them in line). On Saturday evening I attended the convention after party at City Bar. There was an artist’s Draw Off with an auction of their work immediately after they finished working on it.
For a first year event, there was a large amount of cosplayers in attendance. Their level of skill ranged from novice to pro and everybody seemed to be having fun getting dressed up as their favorite characters. My favorite cosplays for the weekend were Chef from South Park and Penguin from Batman Returns. Sooner or later I’m going to create a decent costume and show it off at an event.
AVC has already confirmed that they will be returning to Lafayette next year. I’m happy to hear that. Why? For starters, there’s a quick drop off in conventions close to my home after Space City Comic Con in August. Also, I don’t always get to go to CoastCon in Biloxi in March due to work and distance. I’ve given up on Wizard World events for the most part because they are both expensive and not as fun as they used to be. CyphaCon and Bayoucon are excellent local events in April and June, respectively. With Louisiana Comic Con guaranteeing a return next year and Southern Geek Fest opening its doors for the first time next April, I now have five conventions to look forward to next year. CyphaCon and Southern Geek Fest have already announced a few guests, and I’m sure that Space City and Bayoucon aren’t too far from making guest announcements on their respective websites and social media pages.
So, Louisiana Comic Con is my last convention for the year and that makes me both happy and sad. I’m happy because the event was fun, but sad that there are no more conventions in my area until next year. I do plan on attending a few nerdy events to end the year (including Halloween Comic Fest at Paper Heroes and local comic shops all over the country on Saturday, October 31st), but LCC is definitely a nice way for me to end my convention season.
I’ll be writing posts about any and every other nerdy event I attend this year and will most likely write a review of that little Disney/Lucasfilms project that’s coming up in December as well. I’m also hoping to snag an interview with a cosplayer or two before the end of the year and plan on featuring more of them next year.
As always, thank you very much for reading my post. Feel free to comment or share photos from any events that you’ve attended in the comments section and don’t hesitate to throw suggestions about things you’d like for me to blog about as well.
Ken's Alternate Universe! 