It’s that time of year again, when Wollongong’s comic freaks and sci-fi geeks prepare to gather in the buildings and laneways around the city’s arts precinct for Comic Gong.
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The city’s largest pop culture festival – to be held on Saturday May 19 – is now a fixture of Wollongong’s event calendar.
In it’s sixth year, Comic Gong is again expected to attract thousands of kids and adults from around NSW, who flock to take part in the trade stalls, exhibitions, demos and games.
As always, the event’s Wollongong council organisers expect the cosplay competition, which awards prizes to the best dressed characters across different categories, to be one of the biggest drawcards.
"The cosplay is always the highlight of the event,” Wollongong council’s library and community manager Jenny Thompson said.
“People have all got a favourite character or movie or genre… they nearly always come as superheros – sometimes there’s a few villains – but for most people it’s like a dream to spend the day cosplaying.”
Also expected to be popular is a “draw-off” between two local artists, who will attempt to one-up each other with their drawing skills in front of a crowd.
“These two cartoonists basically try to outwit each other, trying to show who’s faster, who draws the more impressive drawings,” MS Thompson said.
In an effort to encourage even the youngest comic fans to attend, the council is working with the University of Wollongong’s Early Start centre to run activities for young children. The program also includes virtual reality testing, pinball machine playing and Lego robot shows.
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