The Arlington Heights Memorial Library celebrated its seventh annual FanCon on Sunday, July 16. More than 900 people of all ages stopped by the library for the popular comic book and pop culture event.
“It’s my first year coming. I have a 7-year-old son so there’s been a lot of great stuff for him to do here,” said Andrew Ryzner who showed up from Rolling Meadows for his family’s first ever FanCon. “Having particularly something that’s free to come to like this for the video game, comic book kind of crowd, is great.”
Ryzner said he was most excited about the video game rock concert with Arc Impulse who played both retro and modern-day tunes for many to enjoy. This concert was just one of many highlights throughout the day.
Attendees were also able to check out a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament with more than 90 participants, a role-playing and comedy improv show with RPG-13, fandom-related arts and crafts, a drawing workshop, an Enchanted Forest Picnic, a Wednesday-themed scavenger hunt, Dungeons & Dragons sessions, and more.
New to this year’s event was the POW! Pavilion, an outdoor area in the library’s parking lot. This additional space allowed attendees to enjoy pirate sword training outside, a Cirque Acrobat Extravaganza with CirquesExperience and live magic with Kazar, The Timewave Wizard.
“We’ve been to all of [the FanCons] so far,” said Jennifer Amling-Michael who attended this year with her family. “It’s hard to find things where everyone can do something. Where everyone can be entertained. It’s very difficult for me to find things to have a teenager and a younger child where they can both participate in their own way and do their own things. So that’s huge.”
This year’s event was one of the highest attended FanCons in the library’s history. Watch the video below to see how the day went: