Brisbane Supanova 2013

Hellooooooooooo general public of the internets!!

So I’m going to get straight to it. The weekend just gone meant time for a very exciting event in any Brisbanite cosplayer’s schedule…Brisbane Supanova.

Now this is the second of the year for Queensland but also one of the bigger Supanova events of the year.

This year was held at the RNA Showgrounds like every other year, however in a different area, as the renovations that were being carried out last year, have been completed. In my opinion, they should have kept the old layout.

The basic set out was: one huge building housed Artist’s Alley and the theatres, while another had all of the stalls inside. Now having these two buildings spaced quite far apart, in theory, would be an excellent idea. This was not the case.

On the Saturday and Sunday events, both buildings were overcrowded at all times while the walking area between was barely occupied. Seems fairly ridiculous hiring that much space when it wasn’t all being utilised.

The biggest problem that has always presented itself at the Supanova conventions I have attended is how they use the space. Just because you hire a bigger building, doesn’t mean you should cram more stalls into them!

Tons of cosplayers put hundreds of dollars and hours into their costumes, only to be forced to stand outside all day because it is too dangerous for a delicate costume to join the crowds. In reality, not everyone cares about the effort you put into a costume, some people go to these conventions just for the super-star guests and to buy things that they may not be able to elsewhere. With the amount of people crammed into such small spaces, it becomes human nature to push through crowds and barge past people to get through faster. When one becomes frustrated with a crowd, they don’t think twice about what they’re pushing into, they just care bout getting out.

Why not take a row of stalls away, spread out the remaining, and create a more comfortable area for the attendees. Or better yet, take out that wrestling ring that takes up the same space as four stalls because really…who goes to Supanova just to watch wrestling? I mean, what’s it even got to DO with Supanova.

Plus side, Brisnova will be held at the Convention Centre next year! YAY! :D much easier access to public transport, accommodation, food, and Southbank if we feel like a swim haha. Quite possibly the most important factor about this change, is the safety. Children, families, teenagers, adults and older people attend this convention every year…and I can bet if they were asked where they feel safer walking around (especially at night after the con), they would all say Southbank.

Now enough of that.

Day one of Supanova saw me dressed as Katniss in her training outfit. I chose this costume because it is mega comfy and I just wanted to spend the first day looking at everything/buying all the things!

I didn’t see many costumes of recognition that day, but I thoroughly enjoyed the smaller crowd. One thing that annoyed me about the weekend was the complete lack of security with the weapons policy. I left my bow and arrows at home to adhere correctly to the weapons policy for costumes…but it seems not many other people did. Over the course of the weekend I saw numerous weapons outside the restrictions and a handful of strung bows, which, as I understood, was a big no-no. Clearly, no one cares about the rules within the volunteer group.

Me with Effie 

Day two, I was dressed in Aurora’s peasant dress from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. A less recognisable costume obviously, but something I still wanted to cosplay as. I attended with my friend as Ariel, which seemed to be a very popular choice of costume in itself.

There were thousands more people attending this day, which made it quite hard to move around within the stalls, but I still persisted in looking, as there were new things to see.

 We found ourselves a little Belle.

Day three saw me as part of a DC Heroes and Villains group as Poison Ivy. I chose the New 52 version as a way to still be Ivy without being half naked. We were quite a popular group to photograph, so much to a point where we were told off several times for blocking up the pathway. This of course, is not a cosplayer’s fault.

We don’t ask for continuous groups of people to take our photograph at once.

We don’t purposely block a path just for fun. THEN we were told to move over into a vacant corner of the room.

Volunteers need to realise that we are NOT going to move into a corner just because people want to take our photo. We have just as much right as anyone else to wander and enjoy the con without being hassled by you to get out of the way. We understand it gets quite annoying having the paths blocked, but we wont deny people photos just because of two minutes of inconvenience to passers by.

 In the Kings Comics booth (Photo by Kayla Barham)

*sigh* enough ranting for now.

While wandering around Supanova, I saw some truly outstanding costumes on display, especially on the Sunday. I was so happy to have found an awesome Bombshell Batgirl wandering around, although I wish I could have seen the rest of the set being represented as well.

All in all, the weekend was a tiring, yet eventful one, and no amount of negatives will stop me attending next year. Hopefully Sydnova as well ;)