Organisers have confirmed a pop-culture convention will return next year after the community welcomed its “geek culture” for the first time on Saturday.
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More than 500 people piled through the doors of GAMMA.CON in the first few hours of the convention at the Wagga Showground.
Wagga’s Maxine Mueller, who arrived in her Wonder Woman costume, has been going to similar conventions for more than six years.
“I love the atmosphere, the people and it’s a chance to get dressed up,” she said.
“I also love the little kids who come up and just want to get a photo with Wonder Woman.”
Ms Mueller said she didn’t hesitate to attend Wagga’s GAMMA.CON to help ensure its survival.
“There could be more diversity with panels and guests but you can only do so much with the first time,” she said.
More than 5000 people attended last year’s Canberra installment.
For organiser Daniel Rathbone, having more than 500 people through the doors was an amazing turnout.
“We honestly would’ve been happy to have three people and a dog turn up,” he said.
“Next year we’ll expand and it will be bigger and better.”
As a not-for-profit event, Mr Rathbone said volunteers have been working hard to put on the convention and celebrate the “geek community”.
“We do this because we love it – our first ever convention was just 200 people,” he said.
Wagga’s Erin Burrows, who was enjoying The Settlers of Catan game with friends, said a smaller convention meant it was more relaxed and you didn’t have to fight for space.
“There’s a lot of people here, this is like a Friday at a big convention but it’s a different atmosphere.”
The convention drew crowds from far and wide, with Canberra’s Steph Jammu spending five hours making her costume on Friday night.
“It’s great to see everyone so passionate and excited that there’s a pop culture convention in Wagga,” she said.
Fellow organiser Matt Owen said the convention was about bringing people together who would otherwise be enjoying solitary hobbies.
“Pop-culture used to be considered nerdy but it’s not been embraced by society,” he said.
“People want face-to-face and whether it makes money or not, we don’t care.”
