This Saturday, the streets of Stornoway will be filled by fans of comics, movies, games, and more. How did OH!CON’s team make it happen?
Fan conventions have been around since the age of Trekkies. But, while they were once niche, huge events like San Diego Comic-Con now attract hundreds of thousands of guests.
But you don’t have to fly to America to get in on the action. This Saturday, the first ever Outer Hebrides Comic Con (OH!CON) is taking place in Stornoway.
The event will feature special guests flown in from all across Scotland, and highlights such as talks, stalls full of art and merchandise, and a cosplay parade.
“We’re very excited,” says Kathleen Milne, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s Libraries Manager and part of the OH!CON team.
Over the past two years, the team has worked to tirelessly to organise logistics and find special guests.
These include Etienne Kubwabo, whose work Beasts of War is, she says, “very inspirational for young people getting into comics”.
Ben Aaronovitch, author of the Rivers of London series and former writer of Doctor Who, is also one of the convention’s biggest names.
“He’s so generous,” she says. “He’s donating his time.”
The sold-out event looks set to be a success. But it almost didn’t happen at all.
Covid meant conventions everywhere had to put plans on hold. OH!CON, which had been planning to launch in 2020, was no exception.
‘We didn’t think we’d be able to hold it’
The pandemic meant a huge amount of planning – and money — went to aste.
“A lot of the money went on the travel and accommodation [for the guests], and because of Covid everything was cancelled, and we never got that money back,” says Ms Milne.
“We didn’t think we’d be to hold it,” she says – but the team were able to apply to Creative Scotland’s Covid recovery fund.
They feel “very lucky” to have been given that second chance.
But in some ways, says UHI lecturer Hereward Proops, Covid has been “a bit of a blessing in disguise” for the convention.
Being put on hold gave the team “time to be much more organised” that they would have been in 2020, he says.
Plus, being in lockdown now means people are “really ready to have fun and just let go”, says Ms Milne.
‘Fantastic enthusiasm’
The enthusiasm for the convention has been fantastic, the team says.
“It’s really lovely to see the nerds coming out of the woodwork,” says Mr Proops, who’s seen support for the idea coming from places he didn’t expect.
“I was in Edinburgh telling the National Library of Scotland people people about it,” says Ms Milne, “and the Conservation Officer pulled up her sleeve and she had Spock tattooed on her arm!”
She says that conventions like OH!CON are a great way to give people permission to admit their “nerdier” interests.
‘Pressure to fit in’
And that is even more important in a small community like Stornoway, the team say.
When it comes to small island life, says Mr Proops, there can be a lot of pressure to fit in.
“So a lot of young people with more esoteric interests might be quite quiet about it,” he says. “They might hide these things away.”
OH!CON will be a chance for young people in the area to “let their flag fly.”
But while the local community is at the centre of OH!CON, the team are also excited to welcome guests from the other side of the Minch.
‘Visible economic boost’
Hopefully, the convention will give a boost to Stornoway’s tourism during the slower autumn season.
It would also help the team get funding for future events if they can “prove there will be a visible economic boost”, says Mr Walker.
Because, despite putting their all into this year, the OH!CON team have no intention of slowing down.
They have dreams of a longer event next year with even more special guests – and an even bigger opportunity to bring the community together.
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