Comic books, artwork, anime and games; if you’re a local who happens to love any of these or all of these, then Lanka Comic Con is THE place to be for you.
The two-day geek cultural fest kicked off with a bang on 25 August at Trace Expert City Colombo. Spirits were undoubtedly heightened by the vibrant energy radiated by all the music, retail stalls, gaming zones, enthusiastic attendees and not to mention our very own cosplay fanatics from around the country.
We had the absolute privilege of conversing with Navin Weeraratne who happens to be one of the founding members of Lanka Comic Con, as well as the Geek Club of Sri Lanka.
Her revealed to us that their first independent event took place in 2016; last year it was held at SLECC and almost all activities, including the cosplay competition took place indoors.
He added,
“We had to make improvements to maintain sustainability and wanted the event to exhibit something a little more fun and experiential, which is exactly what we did this year.”
Q: You’ve reached the fourth consecutive year of organising an event of such magnitude. What’s your inspiration and vision behind all of this?
A: Well a few years ago, an individual I know wanted to organise a Comic Con, and we wanted to see if we could start off small; to see if people could get used to the idea of doing stuff together. Our motive isn’t to have a giant event with random people; this happens everywhere in Sri Lanka. We want to attract people who’d dress up in a manner in which they wouldn’t necessarily with their own peer groups, and out in public. You know that person in the room that’s fully crowded and feeling all alone? Those are the people we want to have here.”
Q: How would you distinguish this Comic-Con from those that take place internationally, such as that which is held in San Diego, California?
A: Abroad, it’s all about merchandising, so people would have to pay a lot of money to get in, whereas ours is ridiculous; it’s a carnival!
Q: What do you wish Lanka Comic Con would subsequently achieve and is there anything greater you wish to promote through this?
A: We want everyone to come as one; within this period, they’d forget their divisions, religions and history, and be individuals who have a common interest to celebrate comics, to celebrate their semi – religious festival.
The event was spread out throughout the enormous arena. One of its attendees observed,
“there’s a lot more space this time than at the previous comic cons so you can easily walk around.”
There were a variety of activities for attendees to engage in; such as stalls that offered collectibles, a gaming zone which featured locally designed games as well as those designed internationally. For those artsy individuals, there was a variety of stalls that exhibited artwork, as well as comic book stalls for those who were interested in a good read (both local and international). We can’t not mention the music that kept reverberating positive vibes all throughout, alongside the food and refreshment stalls in case one felt the need to go grab a bite.
Attendees were only required to pay a very minute sum to enter.
We came across individuals who had rather inspirational stories, one being MJ who came dressed as Venom.
He revealed to us that his costume was hand-crafted by himself and his mother. The time and effort taken to design costumes was undoubtedly evidenced through almost all the cosplayers, paying justice to exactly what Navin wishes this event would achieve.
It is also worthy to note that this event is wholly trilingual; Navin hopes this event will step forward as a benchmark towards breaking classism, the rules that separate us; and be used as means of reconciliation, to instill nothing but peace, solidarity and togetherness.
See more pics here
By Chenelle Fernando
Pics by Indika Handuwela
