CaperCon brings more than 2,000 fans and costumed characters to Sydney, N.S.

CaperCon - Cape Breton’s “premier pop culture convention” - returned to Sydney, N.S., for its 11th year over the weekend.

CaperCon returned to Sydney, N.S., Friday. Cape Breton’s “premier pop culture convention” brought special guests, events, panels, exhibitions and of course cosplay to Sydney Centre 200 for its 11^th year where it continued until vendors closed shop Sunday afternoon.

One eager participant, who only identified themselves by their spotted hyena costume, said it took about a month and cost approximately $400 worth for supplies to make their custom outfit.

“I was just looking forward to all the people I could meet,” the costumed character said. Dressing up for conventions is a way to meet friends who share similar interests, they said. “It just brought me a lot of joy.”

This is their biggest weekend of the year for some of the vendors at the convention.

“We’ve been coming here for about ten years or so, maybe a little bit more”, said Ray MacDonald, who operated a table full of popular marshmallow creations at CaperCon with his wife.

“We don’t do better at any other show than we do here,” MacDonald said. “We always put on a show. We come in costume. My wife right now is Asoka. I’ve been known to come by in Mandalorian dress – the entire deal.”

More than 2,000 people attended the convention between Friday and Saturday, according to April Baird, one of the event’s organizers and a vendor.

“This is a gathering of like-minded people,” Baird said. “Just nerds.”

Local artists are also given a big platform at CaperCon.

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“We love supporting all kinds of local artists and writers,” Baird said. “There are all kinds of panels. There’s dancing.”

There were plenty of actual comic books and lots of other merchandise but the heroes at CaperCon were also doing some good for the community. Baird said their raffle raised more than $1,500 for the Just for Horizon Achievement Centre in Sydney.

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