Gamers, pop culture lovers and cosplayers gathered in the Territory for a day of fun and inclusiveness
A huge crowd went troppo during a day of cosplay, video gaming and e-Sports in Darwin. See the pictures of costumes that went TROPiCON.
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All of the geeks and freaks came out to play on Saturday as wizards, Ghostbusters, Harry Potter characters and many others spilt into the Darwin CBD for TROPiCON.
Collectively, people from all areas of the geek community put countless hours of work into bringing their favourite characters to life, with incredible detail.
As you walked into the Darwin Entertainment Centre, it was obvious that Ghostbusters had already been called because The Ectomobile parked on the footpath could not be missed.
Ghostbusters NT member Tom Kelly puts his nerdiness to good use all year round by attending kids birthday parties in exchange for donations to local charities such as Autism NT.
“It’s amazing how Darwin has a huge geek community. I moved here 10 years ago and I thought I was going to be alone here but it was quite the opposite,” Mr Kelly said.
“Today, I was not sure how many people would be here but it’s packed. It’s great.
“The atmosphere is jovial, everybody is just being themselves here and they’re not afraid of it.”
More than 1500 nerds traversed through the DEC doors to mingle with the thriving Top End geek community under the one roof while in a safe space to be whoever they wanted to be.
Hogwarts defects Emma Schultz and Lillian Ansell decided to do things slightly different to the original storyline.
“We’re Harry Potter characters but we got kicked out of Hogwarts,” Ms Schultz said.
“We were actually going to be My Little Ponies but we couldn’t find anything so I found some things at Spotlight the other day and put something together – it’s really fun.”
See the TROPiCON gallery below
Geeks get ready to nerd out under the one roof
Darwin, there's a new hope for all of us as Star Wars’ icon Chewbacca, magical boy wizard Harry Potter and many other famous movie characters descend on our city to celebrate everything pop culture.
More than 1000 people – many dressed as their fave cinema and gaming icons – are expected to visit the Geek Culture Collective’s TROPiCON.
Featuring cosplay, e-Sports, movie and book characters and video games, the event is on Saturday, October 1.
The event will be held at the Darwin Convention Centre from 10am to 5pm.
“The whole thing is for all of the different geek communities to be in the one venue at the one time,” GCC secretary Dylan Bennett said.
Tiny Bloom Bear owner Thuy Truong will have one of 24 art stalls at the event.
“It was my dream to be here and have an art stall,” Ms Truong said.
“I would see all the stalls (at other events) and I thought I want to do that with my art and here I am today.”
Cosplay committee member Stephanie Alm said it was a great way for pop culture lovers to come together in an inclusive and fun environment.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to be in a local space and get familiar with it (geek culture),” Ms Alm said.
“It’s about having a go, having some fun, and it’s a safe space for everyone.”
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