We have had NorCon on the to-do list for such a long time but it has always clashed with WynterCon. We love WynterCon, it was one of the first comic cons we went to and we’ve always been welcomed and treated well, it has such a lovely atmosphere. Which makes it weird and difficult because NorCon had a great atmosphere, is welcoming and treated us very well. Note to organisers… please try to not clash with each other!!
The only drawback with NorCon is it’s in Norfolk, which is not a problem in itself, but when you have to drive 5 hours to get there it takes the shine off the journey! The fact that the nation decided to all go to the fuel pumps at the same time and queue all over our route did not make it any easier. We also had a crisis with the Faithless Hounds of Brambledown Towers and their kennels, which led to us discovering a wonderful dog sitter, Aislinn, who sent us pics of the pups all weekend.
Needless to say, we arrived in Norwich much later than anticipated and so we had to set up on the morning of the event. We were impressed with the venue, the Norfolk Showground, it was a great big venue with loads of space. In fact, there was so much space there were a bunch of planets in the hall, huge inflatable ones above the arena, a wonderfully nerdy touch. We were welcomed by the staff and installed ourselves with military efficiency. It’s nice to think we are getting our con mojo back after the pandemic. As well as being welcomed by the staff, we were also welcomed by none other than John Rhys-Davies, Gimli from Lord of the Rings. He is such a lovely chap and regularly makes time to meet and greet the traders at an event. In my experience no other celebrity does this, it’s such a classy thing to do, what a gent!
The event was really well-attended, we didn’t realise that the event had an early ticket option and it was busy from the off. Then we realised that the normal ticket holders were waiting outside to get in! There were a load of fantastic cosplayers including the ever-entertaining Python Knights with some wonderfully unique cosplays. I rarely see an M. Bison cosplay but I have never seen Captain Condiment! I have to admit the Y-Fronts were a little disturbing! We also met the lovely Co-pilot Cosplay with their Muppets, which was just lovely. I had a conversation with Bunsen, while Mrs B had a chat with Beaker.
We caught up with ByDeeBee cosplay taking a break from laying in front of the bulldozer in his Arthur Dent cosplay. David is one of our regulars who has become a lovely friend, and it was great to see him again after the pandemic. As well as being a superb cosplayer, David is also a very talented photographer, and so I spent the day sending cosplayers to him to photograph and he sent cosplayers off to our table to buy our goodies!! We also met another of our regulars, UniPool Cosplay David and Jan, dressed in an epic Rocky Horror cosplay. UniPool absolutely fling themselves into the characters and are wonderfully entertaining to have around at any con, we love em!
In addition to the cosplayers we also met up with our friend Carolyn Edwards, an uber-talented artist who specialises in Whovian artwork. I think it was her first outing since lockdown and she was in great form! We also met up with Solly from SM-Artworks and his lovely wife Fatima, another incredible artist I would heartily recommend you look up.
There as guests were Grant Perkins with his glamorous sidekick Eva and also the actor Jon Campling. Grant is a great comic artist with a truly individual style and a wicked sense of humour. His mash-ups are a joy to behold. Jon is a talented actor with the most luxuriant beard and hair (needless to say I’m very jealous) who has appeared in Harry Potter as a Death Eater and is none other than King Regis from the Final Fantasy franchise. As well as being a gifted actor, he also taught himself to sing, play the guitar and draw during lockdown! He has a ludicrous amount of energy and enthusiasm for whatever he does. The last time I saw him, he was juggling clubs while wearing roller skates!
Overall we had a cracking weekend at NorCon and we would heartily recommend it as a trader and there was plenty to see there as an attendee, with a decent selection of quality props including the Batmobile and the Ghostbusters car and a good range of guests from a wide range of genres. They also had an orchestra playing movie themes which added to the overall atmosphere. NorCon describes itself as a friendly con and it definitely is, we had a great weekend.