It still feels like 2016 only began yesterday so it’s hard to believe that two months of the year are almost gone. That means it’s time for me to start thinking about the conventions I’m planning to attend later this year (and some I’m undecided on).
The conventions I’m planning to attend this year are as follows:
Belfast Film & Comic Con (May 14th-15th)- Having already attended it twice I’m definitely considering going to Belfast Film & Comic Con again. Showmasters have now decided to have two Film & Comic Con events in Belfast each year (the other event this year is in September) and hopefully will have enough different guests to make me want to attend both. The May events line-up is Doctor Who heavy with Colin Spaull and Jimmy Vee being the most familiar faces to fans of the modern series (the former was a guest on the podcast a couple of years ago. However, the headline guest is Robert Englund of A Nightmare on Elm Street fame.
MCM Ireland (July 2nd-3rd) (?)- Having missed out on last years MCM Ireland (after attending the first event in 2014) I’m very hopeful of making a return for this years’ event. The guest line-up has a very strong Doctor Who presence with Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred (a guest on the podcast last year) among the guests confirmed to be attending. The RDS is one of my favourite venues for conventions so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll be at MCM Ireland this year.
Star Wars Celebration (July 15th-17th)- The popular Star Wars Celebration event returns to Europe for the third time following the first Celebration in London (2007) and Celebration Germany (2013), the latter which I attended and had three of the best days of my life. David Collins (Star Wars: The Force Unleashed) has been announced as a host at the event but details on other guests and what we’ll see are being kept under wraps by Disney/Lucasfilm. Expect a trailer for Rogue One though.
London Film & Comic Con 2016 (July 29th-31st)- Showmasters’ flagship event is again among my most anticipated events of 2016. Having attended the last two years I’ll definitely be attending for the third year running. Several big-name guests have already been announced including Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Jack Gleeson (Game of Thrones), Dominic Monaghan (Lord of the Rings), Jason David Frank (Power Rangers) and John Wesley Shipp (The Flash). Except a lot more guest announcements between now and the event (the two LFCC events I’ve attended have had 100+ film & TV guests alone).
Dublin Comic Con 2016 (August 6th-7th)- I’m looking forward to attending Dublin Comic Con for the fourth year running. I’ve been attending this event from the beginning and it’s great to have seen a fan event become so popular in such a short amount of time. Guests announced so far include Scott Wilson (The Walking Dead), Kevin Eastman (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Jim Beaver (Supernatural) and Robert Maschio (Bones).
Invasion Dublin 2016 (?)- Not officially announced but is likely because of a tease on Invasion’s Facebook page.
Belfast Film & Comic Con 2016 (September 10th-11th) (?)- Depends on the guests.
Last year was a great year for me attending conventions. Since starting college I’d been dying to record interviews with guests using my handheld recorder and last year I got several great interviews on my recorder including Gary Kurtz (Star Wars), Ken Colley (Star Wars) and John Morton (Star Wars) at London Film & Comic Con and Samuel Anderson (Doctor Who) at Belfast Film & Comic Con. I’m hoping to have the opportunity to interview more guests at some of the conventions I’ll be attending this year.
Want to see some of my footage from conventions? Check out a couple of samples below:
Will I be seeing you at any of these conventions? Let me know in the comments if you’ll be attending any of these events!
By Ruari Williamson
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