The Riverina's pop-culture fans will have the chance to escape and disappear into their favourite fictional worlds and characters this Saturday when GAMMA Con treks into Wagga.
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The annual festival, run by a non-profit organisation, celebrates all-things Anime, comics, games and cosplay (costume play).
The latter combines crafting, sewing and play and cosplayers range from hobbyists to internationally recognised professionals.
GAMMA Con president Isabella Hurst, a cosplayer herself, said the passion and commitment in creating these costumes and characters were features to be wowed by.
"I think people who have the most outstanding commitment to this industry just blows my mind," Ms Hurst said.
"A lot of people just really love bringing characters to life and live as someone else."
"It's also about dressing up and putting smiles on people's faces.
"The community itself is really supportive and it's a tight-knit one."
Special guests this year are award-winning cosplayers Clare McCutcheon (with the moniker Henchwench) and Oarin Tremont (with the moniker Scrap Shop Props).
Both are Adelaide-based cosplayers known for their promotional work making costumes and props for major games.
Ms Hurst recalled during one event in which Ms McCutcheon's bald-head prop broke.
"She was going to go live on Facebook with that bald head as part of her costume, but it broke so she decided to shave her head," Ms Hurst said.
Henchwench won the overall winner of the Australian Championships of Cosplay in 2016 and represented Australia in the Crown Championships of Cosplay in Chicago.
Scrap Shop Props won 2018 Best in Show at Sydney Supanova and used his engineering knowledge to build a massive, full-size seven foot six inch tall character.
They will be judging the local cosplay competition at GAMMA Con Wagga and will present a demonstration of their skills in props and costume building.
"We're super excited to be visiting this year as part of GAMMA Con Wagga and meet the local cosplayers," Ms McCutcheon said.
"Cosplaying has given me the opportunity to meet great people and I'm always learning new skills."
"The great thing about cosplay is anyone can do it," Mr Tremont said.
Journalist, gamer and dancer Hayley Williams will also make an appearance by performing cospole with her dance troupe at GAMMA@Night, the evening component of GAMMA Con for adults.
Cospole combines cosplay, pop culture, and pole dancing.
"Our cospole performance will combine the grace and athleticism of pole dance with the quirky personalities of your favourite pop culture characters, creating a uniquely fun show like no other," Ms Williams said.
As well as cosplay, the day event will have exhibitors, music, food and drinks, video games, and workshops.
"We're expecting a large crowd from interstate as well as regionally," Ms Hurst said.
"The crowd should quadruple in size from last year.
"It should be good with the food and wine festival going on as well."
The day event will run from 10am to 5pm at Kyeamba Smith Hall while the night session is from 6pm to 10pm on March 23.
- More about the event and tickets: gammacon.org.au.
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