Gamesters in Canberra, 'console' yourselves! It's time for the July Gaming Festival

Fans of Fortnite, Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto, comics, movies, collectibles, and more will be able to celebrate the return of Canberra's biggest anime celebration of all time. For the first time since 2019, Gamma Con, Canberra's premier pop culture festival, will be taking place at the National Convention Centre this week, as it is the city's premier pop culture festival. A member of the Gamma Con marketing team and one of the event's organizers, Rob Thomas, says the annual event has been around since 2013. In 2020, we were all ready, but we were unable to run due to COVID, which caused us to not be able to run. Rob said, "Since then, the only thing we've done was to hold an online Twitch stream," he said. For the last few years, there has been a question about 'when will you return?', so it's great that the event will take place in 2022. It will be wonderful to see the faces of both children and adults who are thrilled."

"Fandom and geekery" was the theme of the festival, according to Rob. "This exhibition was a fantastic reflection of Canberra's creativity," he says. “When people think of Canberra, they don’t think of the wild cosplay competitions we run, or a strong gaming scene with computer gamers and video gamers, so this event just highlights the vibrancy we have here.” The Canberra pop culture scene has always been well received by Rob, who has been volunteering for Gamma Con since 2016. According to him, Gamma Con has been growing steadily as more and more people hear about it every day. It'll be great to see everyone's reaction to the cool stuff we've got on display." While the program is still being finalized, Rob said previous event guests will be part of a "jam-packed" lineup. He noted that guest appearances in the past included international cosplayers, comic artists and writers working for Marvel and DC titles, and anime voice actors.

The festival also featured comedians, singers, dance troupes performing k-pop and j-pop routines, as well as Q&A sessions with panelists." There will also be live performances, guest speakers, appearances from game developers, and plenty of vendors at this year's two-day event, Rob said. During the festival, there will be a showcase of computer, video, and board game developers sponsored by the Academy of Interactive Entertainment where people will be able to purchase games that they have developed," Rob told us. In addition to numerous local and national artists selling their products at the event, there is an 'Artist Alley' where every day a significant number of tailors, novelists, and comic book artists will be setting up shop to sell their products. In addition to fan art and comic books, there will also be genre-inspired craft items for purchase, such as steampunk items and anime-inspired gifts. There are expected to be more than 5000 people attending the event, according to Rob. On the 23rd and 24th of July, Gamma Con will be held on both Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm on both days. There will be a special 18+ event taking place on a Saturday night from 6:30 pm until midnight, which is open to the public.