Convention Report- Belfast Film & Comic Con

After years of waiting, I was finally able to meet Star Wars actor Dave Prowse at Belfast Film & Comic Con. The convention took place at the SSE Arena on November 1^st.

This was the second Belfast Film & Comic Con after the conventions debut last year. The event was organised by Showmasters, the organisers of the famed Film & Comic Con and CollectorMania events that take place in the UK on a regular basis.

Compared to other Showmasters events I have attended in the past, Belfast Film & Comic Con had a more relaxed atmosphere and that helped me feel at ease. Other Showmasters events like London Film & Comic Con tend to be manic so it was nice to be able to enjoy a relaxed atmosphere at one of their smaller conventions.

Compared to last year’s event where I met three guests (Billie Piper, Eve Myles and Paul McGann of Doctor Who fame), I only met two guests at the convention this year. The two guests I met were Dave Prowse (Darth Vader in Star Wars) and Samuel Anderson (Danny Pink in Doctor Who). Both guests were really nice and approachable. I was especially eager to meet Prowse as I’ve been a Star Wars fan for all of my life and it was great to finally add his autograph to my collection, while Samuel Anderson was a pleasure to interview for the podcast.

I was very happy that both Prowse and Anderson were allowing pictures at their table. It’s becoming an unfortunate trend (particularly at Showmasters bigger conventions) for guests not to allow pictures at their autograph table. It’s unfortunate because it’s not up to the organisers but is decided by the guests or their agent, who are usually hoping to make more money from photoshoots.

I thought there were a lot of great costumes at the convention, with a number of cosplaying organisations like the 501^st Ireland Garrison and the Emerald Garrison among most well-known in attendance. Compared to previous multi-franchise conventions I’ve attended where various attendees were cosplaying the same character, I felt there was a great mix at Belfast Film & Comic Con and that helped add to the multi-franchise element that I mentioned.

As with most conventions there were numerous stalls selling merchandise. I bought four posters from a stall for a combined total of just £10. The posters included two from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, one from Star Wars: Rebels and one from Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D TV show. At that price I couldn’t pass up on buying these posters.

My honest criticism is that Belfast Film & Comic Con could be a lot bigger than it currently is. It’s Showmasters only convention in Ireland (they haven’t had any in the Republic of Ireland) and I think they could get a lot more attendees by bringing in even bigger guests.

I don’t think this convention will ever be as big as their London Film & Comic Con event, but I think it has the potential to be bigger than it currently is. It has been announced that there will be two Belfast Film & Comic Con’s next year (one in May and one in September) but that doesn’t mean that they will be bigger than this year’s convention.

Check out our footage from the convention below: