THUNDER BAY - The annual convention that draws in fans of fantasy, sci-fi, comic books, gaming, and all things geek will be changing things up for its fifth year in 2019.
After growing each year since it began in 2014, ThunderCon will be moving from the Valhalla Inn to the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition grounds.
According to Heather Dickson, media director for ThunderCon, there were several reasons for the move to the CLE grounds, including cost and space.
For the past three years, the Valhalla Inn has rented out the entire hotel for the convention and Dickson said it has been a great venue, but due to increasing costs, it is no longer a financially viable option.
Dickson added that with the convention growing year after year, more space was also required to hold all the programming and vendors. When ThunderCon first started, it was a one day event and attracted more than 1,000 people. It was expanded to a two-day event in its second year and now brings in more than 4,000 people.
“The CLE was very keen and so was Silver City, so it was not a terribly difficult choice,” Dickson said. “The CLE is also very central, family friendly, and will hopefully allow for some fun, out of the box programming this year. And, dare I mention, food trucks?”
ThunderCon will also be partnering with Silver City and Boulder Bear for interactive programming and are in talks with the Farmer’s Market and Thunder Bay Gymnastics.
ThunderCon celebrates all things geek, from movies, comic books, action figures, gaming, to cosplaying and is the largest convention of its kind in Northern Ontario. It brings in celebrities from various aspects of sci-fi and fantasy, including actors, writers, animators, and costume designers.
Last year, ThunderCon was held just before Halloween, but this year it will return to the month of September and be held on Sept. 21 and 22.
