The invasion is over. Edinburgh is safe.
Thanks mainly to the collection of superheroes at Meadowbank Leisure Centre this weekend. The Capital Sci-Fi con was a rousing success as 7000 people passed through the doors to celebrate everything science fiction.
The fans were greeted by 7 foot tall Wookies and legions of Stormtroopers, among many other great costumes. The event was organised in the same way the big conventions with panel’s discussing topics such as Ladies of Sci-Fi, Wandbattle Workshops and Lightsabre Temple Training.
The atmosphere was great as a mix of young and old fans came together to enjoy their shared passions, discuss the merits of new vs. old Star Trek, and hunt for their favourite stars autograph.
There were stars from the world of comics as Edinburgh’s own Tanya Roberts was present, leading a workshop in drawing and chatting with fans at her booth. Gary Erskine, another star of comics, made the journey across from Glasgow while Bob Salley travelled all the way from the Boston to promote his independent comic Salvagers.
The whole week culminated in two outstanding cosplay competitions. The first was for the children under the age of 12. In a tough field, there were some excellent costumes and also some very cute ones as the youngest contestant was just 15 months old. The overall winner for the under 12s was a larger than life R2D2.
In the adult section, with over 50 contestants ranging from the mainstream to the more obscure. After some lengthy deliberation, the judges decided on the three winners. In the category of character embodiment, the winner was Daniel James Gray, whose on stage thirst shredding, vein popping enactment of Old Man Logan was deemed the best portrayal.
Next, up in the Armour Build category, the winner was Sam Marshall as a Raider from Fallout 4, a costume that involved welding body armour together and only took Sam a “few weeks”.
The winner in the Best Fabric and Best in Show went to Claire Nugent from Darlington, who stole the show, as the Queen of Hearts.
The field had some great costumes and showed the passion and enthusiasm for the subjects they loved, with notable mentions going to Maleficent with her animatronic wings and Captain Boomerang for being so entertaining in character throughout the judging period.
The show ended with a very emotional Keith Armour, who has spent the last year pulling the event together came on stage to chants of his name from the crowd, Keith thanked everyone who attended and all of the staff and volunteers who contributed so much of their time and enthusiasm.
As the event was winding down, Keith said: “The atmosphere has been electric all weekend, the guest have had a fantastic time, the movie guest have had a fantastic time, and the cosplayers have had a fantastic time.”
Keith continued “I try my best to put the best con I possibly can for people to come and enjoy themselves and we do everything from table top gaming, retro gaming, computer programming, we’ve got all the costumes and props, we try to cater for everyone. Now we just need to find out how much we raised for CHAS.”
The smiles on the faces of everyone leaving Meadowbank were a clear reflection of how great the convention was and just how much the people of Edinburgh and its immediate neighbours enjoyed a truly wonderful weekend.
