Move over, Schoolies. There's another event on the Gold Coast calendar that may aid skinny young lads with losing their virginity, and this one involves cosplay.
In fact, if you're a trekkie, a cinefile, a gamer (closet or not), or just an all-around geek (self-proclaimed or not), this applies to you.
Queensland Pop Culture Week – otherwise known as QPOW! - is back. Or, it will be. From April 18 – 28 next year, the massive event, which is a joint initiative of the Gold Coast Film Festival (GCFF) and the Gold Coast City Council (GCCC) will take place on the sunny Gold Coast. That's right: open the blinds, drop the Twisties, step away from the gaming console/DVD player of choice, take a shower (that one's optional) and get to this one.
In its second year, QPOW! is ten days dedicated to utter pop culture nerdery. The program for 2013 is already bursting at the seams, with a range of events over the week at various locations. For the film buffs, the Gold Coast Film Festival will provide feature films, red carpet premieres and free outdoor movies. Traditional nerds are not forgotten; The Arts Centre Gold Coast is presenting an Anime Art Exhibition, and Pacific Fair will host a 'Heroes and Villains' superhero sculpture display. There's also going to be a Supanova Pop Culture Expo encompassing the worlds of TV, comic books, console gaming, cosplay, books, internet sites, toys , fantasy and more. Here, fans will get to mingle with celebrities and creative talent behind their medium of choice and generally geek out.
Supanova Expo Event Director Daniel Zachariou is calling QPOW! the “marquee 'must attend at all costs' Supanova expo nationally for all pop culture fans.”
The 'be there or be square' line doesn't really work in this instance, but you get our drift.
You should also start planning your costume, because there'll be a Supanova cosplay (cos-tume role-play) parade through the Broadbeach mall. Yup. It'll be led by the 501st Legion Star Wars Garrison which, for the uninformed, is a worldwide organisation with over 5500 active Star Wars enthusiasts' members in over 47 countries. Darth Vader will be there, as well as a few Marvel superheroes, some anime characters and probably some other weird stuff.
We trust that we don't need to spell it out: it's going to be awesome.
