Magic City Con
Members of the Alabama Garrison 501st Legion, a group of Star Wars cosplayers, dress up as Darth Vader and a Jawa from Star Wars to promote the Magic City Con during another convention in February. Photo courtesy of Rita Houston.
Magic City Con
July 24-26
Cahaba Grand Conference Center
3660 Grandview Parkway
Tickets: $45 weekend pass
$30 Friday or Sunday pass
$35 Saturday pass
Fans of science fiction, video games and ghost hunts, take note – a new convention is coming to Birmingham.
The Magic City Con has been in the works for two years, according to senior event coordinator Rita Houston. It’ll become a reality the weekend of July 24-26 at the Cahaba Grand Conference Center.
As a lover of video games and other Southeastern comic conventions, Houston decided to use her background of Gatlinburg convention planning to bring something new to the geeks of Birmingham.
“We just want to offer a little something different, and we feel that we’ve worked hard with our programming not to have the exact same tracks and discussions that you’re going to find in Atlanta and Tennessee and Florida,” Houston said.
The three-day event will feature a series of special guests, panels and activities across a variety of interests. There will also be around 30 vendors and eight to 10 local artists selling their products in the “Artists’ Alley.”
The special guests include three well-known television and video game voice actors. Steve Blum of the Cowboy Bebop and Star Wars Rebels animated TV series, as well as the 2014 movie The Boxtrolls, will be there along with Jennifer Hale, best known as the voice of Commander Shepard in Mass Effect and Samus Aran in Metroid Prime. Booboo Stewart of X-Men: Days of Future Past and Greg Ellis, the voice of Commander Cullen in Dragon Age will also be on hand.
“It’s really nice for them being friends and all in the industry to be able to come together and connect, and they’ve got wonderful chemistry,” Houston said.
Other guests will include the cast and crew of Thr33 Days Dead, a zombie movie filmed in Jasper, Alabama, and the Alabama Garrison 501st Legion, a group of Star Wars fans who cosplay, or dress up as, their favorite movie characters. Cosplay will be a big part of Magic City Con, Houston said, because it brings a lot of fun to conventions.
“I love just the passion everybody has about it. There’s just such an energy when you go to the conventions,” Houston said. “People are dressed up, they’ve just really put their hearts into it. So many hours and decisions have gone into that costume, and it’s just fun to see them bring characters that are on a flat screen to life.”
A series of panelists will also attend and discuss topics ranging from acting on the big screen and independent filmmaking to ghost hunts and becoming a published author. There will be a panel on cosplay and a costume contest for attendees to show off their work.
“We’re trying to get a good, eclectic mix of interests,” Houston said.
Houston said she wanted to create extra opportunities for children to have fun at the convention, so Magic City Con will include a special “KidCon” on Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon. There will be a Harry Potter mini-camp, a Pokemon card trading post, a reading nook with Tinkerbell, and visits from Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog and Birmingham Barons mascot Babe Ruff.
“We’re just trying to get the kids involved as well and hopefully grow that part of the convention,” Houston said.
As part of the planning process, Houston has devoted a lot of effort to partnering with local businesses. She is creating informational packets for out-of-town guests to find nearby restaurants and retail. Ghost Hunt Weekends is offering a special Sloss Furnaces ghost tour during the convention.
By the end of the weekend, Houston hopes guests will be excited enough to make Magic City Con a repeat event.
“We’re trying to make something interesting for people to come out of Magic City Con and go, ‘Wow, that was fantastic,’” Houston said.
