Surviving the Calgary Expo 2015

On Thursday April 16th the 2015 Calgary Expo kicked off and on Sunday April 19th the curtains closed with a round of applause. The expo in Calgary got to share it’s 10th year anniversary, and with what it had in store it’s not a surprise they’re still standing and going strong. The Calgary Expo is the second largest convention of its kind in Canada and fourth in North America. There was an impressive line up of guest stars and creators this year. Con-goers had the opportunity to see Game of Throne stars Gwendoline Christie and Jason Momoa, Arrow lead Stephen Amell, Marvel’s Agents of Shield leads Ming-Na Wen and Brett Dalton, and leading lady of Marvel’s Agent Carter Hayley Atwell among many popular artists. They sure blew everyone out of the water when they announced that for the first time in the history of ever that Neil Patrick Harris was to appear at a convention. 

“It’s fair to say that our office has never been so universally excited for a guest to attend Calgary Expo as we are for Mr. Harris,” said Calgary Expo host, Emily Expo. “His charm and talent cross all genres from films to Hollywood awards shows to silver screen to web series and we are truly honoured that he has selected Calgary for his first convention appearance.”

This news was both exciting and devastating. Why would this news be devastating you may ask? I’ll tell you.

I only had entrance for Saturday.

Despite the fact that I wouldn’t be able to stand in the same room as Neil Patrick Harris, Saturday was a blast! This was my second year going to the Calgary Expo and I enjoyed it as much as last year, perhaps even more. This year I didn’t spend most of my time volunteering for the expo, instead, I went a full day to enjoy what it had to offer.

I went to panels for the first time ever.

The first panel that I decided to head for was the “Learn to LARP” panel. For those of you who don’t know, LARP stands for “Live Action Role Playing.” The panel was being hosted by Alliance Alberta and they talked about what it takes to survive in the world of LARPing as well as how their specific chapter functions.

On top of learning what LARPing was all about I also went to the Spotlight on Agents of Shield panel. You know, the one with Ming-Na Wen and Brett Dalton. They were both really funny and entertaining and honestly kudos to them, especially Ming-Na Wen because she was apparently running on like two hours of sleep because they had finished filming season two of Marvel’s Agents of Shield the night before. One would imagine kicking that much butt that late into the night would tucker someone out completely but not her. She was still standing and dancing around poking fun of Brett Dalton in a friendly good humored kind of way. If that didn’t make her one of the chillest people, she apparently was willing to stay past her alloted time in order to sign everyone’s picture at her autograph line up just so people didn’t have to be turned away.

How cool is that? Answer: the coolest.

I certainly had a great time at the Calgary Expo and it was nice hearing all of the stories that my other friends had. Especially when you hear stories about their experience with a celebrity they really liked and how truly down to earth they all were.

Panels are not the only thing that make the Calgary Expo a go-to destination for many, there’s also the cosplays and artist booths. But more on that in the second installment of “Surviving the Calgary Expo 2015.”

Before I leave you for this post, I want you to look at the picture on the left. Impressive right? Look at all that detail and craftsmanship that went into that. (Honestly, the picture does not do it justice.) You can see how much effort went into creating this, so much talent and effort was put it into, in fact, that you might feel like it could be on a TV show set or something. Maybe you imagine this guy behind the mask and because the costume is hardcore, he has like a really deep and gruff voice? (I’m working off of stereotypes here)

Imagine my surprise that when I asked to take a picture, one of the perkiest and cutest feminine voices piped up and said “Oh yeah sure!”

Ladies, gentelmen, and everyone in between, I present to you a prime example of the power of…

COSPLAY.