Every year Phoenix Fan Fest gets bigger and better, and this year was no exception. With a location change to downtown Phoenix this year the convention felt closer to its counterpart Phoenix Comicon. With a Saturday/Sunday run time I felt this year was better than the last, the space really made it for me as it felt more like a convention then an expo; also the transportation options to get downtown are significantly better then to get to Glendale.
When I arrived to the convention space, it kind of made me think back to the smaller days of Phoenix Comicon. The small intimate atmosphere, the fan driven panels, and also the conversations taking place. As I walked through the exhibitor’s hall I noticed so favorite stalls, like Steam Crow and Zia Records but I also saw some I had never seen before. That might have been due to the exhibitor hall being 3 times as big at PHXCC, but I enjoyed being able to see everything and really take in the environment.
When it comes to cosplay I saw some really creative stuff this year! Besides the flood of suicide squad Harley Quinn’s, I saw this great Harry Potter group that even had costumes from Goblet of Fire which I thought was extremely impressive. Also this great Rick and Morty Costume caught my eye as I was leaving Sunday. Also in the exhibitor’s hall, in a section full of prop sets they had some amazing Marvel universe cosplayers; specially a Doctor Strange cosplayer caught my eye the costume was very well done!
Moving on to panels, the focus of this convention seemed to be fan driven panels. One that caught my eye was Stranger Things trivia, which due to the guest line up I think was a brilliant idea! With guest such as Mille Bobby Brown and David Harbour from the show I think it was a great panel that really got people hyped for the guests! Also Elizabeth Henstridge and Brett Dalton from Agents of Shield were guest which I think added to a really interesting line up for the convention. I was most excited to see Arthur Darvill but due to an acting commitment he had to cancel but hopefully we will see him at a convention here in the future.
Overall I think Fan fest made some really interesting changes and I think it is heading into the right direction, I love how it keeps the fan focus but also making it feel like how conventions were a few years back. I look forward to seeing what’s new at Phoenix Comicon on May and also how Fan Fest will evolve in the upcoming year!
