Fans of Star Wars, Harry Potter, Marvel, Doctor Who and James Bond enjoy Sutton Bridge Comicon
Storm Troopers, A giant Warhammer Space Marine and the Green Goblin were among the characters who took over a village this weekend.
The first-ever Sutton Bridge Comicon proved a hit with more than 900 punters of all ages converging on the Curlew Centre and Constitutional Club to check out the weird and wonderful worlds of sci-fi, Anime and horror.
And the event also raised over £450 for Help for Heroes and HeartLinc, a children’s heart charity.
Cosplay characters from the worlds of Star Wars, Ghostbusters, Warhammer, the Marvel Universe and even Minecraft patrolled the area, posing for photos with fans – many of whom were in equally excellent outfits.
Stalls offering you the chance to buy action figures, collectables and artwork of memorable movies were situated alongside novelists selling their work and a Meta virtual reality machine, where the public were encouraged to don the mask and see if they could bash enough blocks to claim the top score and a £50 prize.
Upstairs, actors from franchises such as Indiana Jones,, Harry Potter, Star Wars and Doctor Who signed autographs and posed for pictures.
“We were blown away by the turnout,” said Adam Landy, who put on the event with wife Melissa.
“We estimate more than 900 people turned up in the end, which was way more than we anticipated.
“There were several elements to us wanting to do it, to promote positive mental health, to put something on for the community which brings everyone together and also raise money for charity.
“Because of the people turning up not only have we broken event, we’ve managed to raise £460 for charity.”
The public got in on the act with young and old getting well and truly into the spirit.
“We had a 10-month old baby in cosplay and a customer in his 90s, the full spectrum of ages at the event,” Adam added.
“What was really nice was we had an older gentleman who went up to my wife and gave her a hug because he said he never thought he’d get to meet anyone from Star Wars, but we got to give him that gift.
“That was quite a moving moment, while I had a young girl come up to me saying it was her first comicon and first time she’d done cosplay, and it was the best day she’d ever had.
“Everybody was there to enjoy themselves, which was brilliant. we just wanted everybody to feel apart of this community.
“We’ve had people messaging me asking when the next one is, but I think my back needs to recover before I even contemplate thinking about that... But never say never.”
Norwich-based Martin Ballantyne has appeared in two Harry Potter films, the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series and movies including the latest Indiana Jones installment, three Bourne movies, the Golden Compass with Daniel Craig and the Dark Knight where he was a henchman to Heath Ledger’s Joker.
He has done more than 1,000 comicons as a fan and actor and enjoyed attending a new event.
“It’s a great profession and I love doing comic-cons and meeting people,” he said.
“When you’re a fan and end up working with some heroes it’s amazing.”
Clem So’s CV includes roles in James Bond, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Marvel’s Dr Strange.
“It’s always good to meet new people and, because I do a lot of events around the UK and abroad, it’s always exciting to do a new event,” he said.
Boston’s Fred Bell – who was one of the storm troopers who wowed the crowds at this year’s Spalding Flower Parade – spends his spare time in costume visiting hospitals, hospices and raising money for charity.
But on Saturday he was delighted to allow punters to ride his speeder.
“It puts a smile on people’s faces and you can’t say many hobbies do that. It’s great to do,” he explained.
