Fan Expo Denver 2021 – Special Edition
It’s sad, isn’t it, that doing someone we once found so common and unremarkable can now be marketed as a “Special Edition?”
But, regardless of the twists and turns that have come our way, we are–slowly–getting back to doing the things we enjoy, and–perhaps more importantly–enjoying the things we do.
Which brings us to this: Fan Expo Denver.
Once simply “Denver Comic Con,” then becoming “Denver Pop Culture Con,” and now, after joining a family that includes events in Dallas, Vancouver, Toronto, and Calgary (among others), we will have Fan Expo Denver – Special Edition happening at the Colorado Convention Center over the Halloween weekend (29-31 October, 2021).
And a “Special Edition” it will be.
Billed by the organizers as an event where “Tickets will be limited, and the event will be 75% of the size planned for FAN EXPO Denver 2022. Although it will be slightly smaller, get ready for everything you love about the event, from celebrity guests to workshops to shopping madness (and everything in between).”
I must say, even at 75% of “normal” size (based on previous years I’ve attended), I expect a more than sizable crowd to be inside the convention center to see such guests as Katie Cassidy, Mary McDonnell, Edward James Olmos, Felicia Day, Giancarlo Esposito, Billie Piper, Christopher Eccleston, and headlined by a literally-just-returned-from-actual-space William Shatner, among many, many more guests.
And it’s been a long time coming, after the events of the past 18 months.
Personally, this will be my fourth “pop-culture/comic-con/whatever-your-jam-is” event since the beginning of September. Having eased back into the game by attending Denver’s southern neighbor event in Colorado Springs, followed immediately by my “home” event (FanX Salt Lake), and a smallish Horror-Con in Las Vegas just a weekend ago (where we became embroiled in the Great Southwest Cancellation Fiasco on our way home), and I must say that it’s been nice to feel a sense of normality.
Yes, all the events have gone on with differing levels of Covid precautions, but each of them had some form of requirements in place.
Fan Expo Denver will be no different, mandating masks for all attendees (See their Health & Wellness policy frontpage here: https://fanexpohq.com/fanexpodenver/health-safety/), which includes explanations for events such as celebrity photo-ops, one of the primary drivers of attendance at these kind of events.
Regardless, what hasn’t been lost with the name change is the “Pop-Culture Classroom” aspect of the event, which focuses on younger fans, as well as the art and imagination that go into the creation of all things pop-culture that we love.
One final thing, and I feel it’s terribly important: as we approach the event, now only 16 days away, all of us–guests, media, and attendees–need to remember that events like these are shared experiences, and while our personal tastes may differ, what we unquestionably have in common is that we all want to have fun doing it.
As I told anyone and everyone who would listen here in Salt Lake last month: “Be patient. Be kind. Be helpful.”
That’s it.
If we can all do that to/for one another, then Fan Expo Denver 2021 will certainly be an undeniable success.
[As for our plans? Well, assuming air travel hasn’t completely collapsed by then, after we fly in, we plan to find some fellow movie buffs and talk film, and perhaps even find an independent filmmaker or two on the floor and learn about and help them publicize their project. Celebrity interviews are always nice, of course, but we’ll have to see how that shakes out as we go, won’t we? Expect twitter updates, and and audio/video post or two, either here or on our YouTube channel.]