It’s always a sad day when the final day of Sci-Fi Weekender is coming to an end but the final day was an amazing day again that was packed with more Q&As, talks, signings, live music and so much more that I could do with cloning myself to be in more than two places at once, good job I have a great team with me to help out with the weekend’s coverage.
Saturday morning started with the Fiona Angwin Memorial Puppet Parade, this is the second year for the parade after we sadly lost such a wonderful friend to many of us at SFW and we honour her with this parade of puppets.
The Ufologists took to the stage in the Main Void for Q&As and a peak at their new documentary about aliens, UFOs and much more. It’s certainly a little something to watch on a Saturday morning.
There were some great talks and Q&As with Richard Ashton, Anna Stephens and Dacre Stoker brought us a fascinating talk about Bram Stoker and the history behind him along with the Dracula character, Dacre followed the talk with a superb Q&A.
The first part of the day on the Main Void ended with yet another very funny Just a Minute, which is always a highlight of SFW, hosted by David J Howe the guest panel included Nina Wadia OBE, Stephen Cox, Chase Masterson and Bryony Pearce. I have to say that Nina and Bryony had me in stitches through the comedy panel show, those two have certainly made it harder to top this year’s panel for next year.
Meanwhile, over in the Spaceport, the morning started with the Cosplay Preliminaries and some excellent talks about Doctor Who in Art, Popup Puppet Cinema also returned to the Spaceport for another performance of Back to the Future and there were performances from Death Ingloria, stand up from George Coppen and the evening’s entertainment ended with the Intellygents.
After our usual break from 6-7 pm, it was time to head back to the Main Void for the Cosplay Finals and wow what a brilliant collection of amazing cosplayers, we even had a brilliant Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy from a 70 year-old-cosplayer, superb.
This year saw Adam being terrified by a Gas Mask child from Doctor Who as the child was asking, “are you my mummy?” at one point someone in the audience shouted out, “no he’s the daddy”. This is one of the many things I love about Sci-Fi Weekender there is so much to enjoy and audience participation is something that we get loads of.
Sci-Fi Weekender SFW XIV Cosplay Winners
After the Cosplay Finals, it was a welcome return to SFW as Jolly Boat delighted fans with their style of pirate songs for almost an hour, over the years I always missed their performances so I was over the moon to catch them this year.
John Robertson followed with his Dark Room as audience members attempted to find the light switch and escape the Dark Room for the chance to win a Golden Flamboyant Potato!
The final act and resident DJ of SFW hit the stage at around 11 pm and you then know that the Weekender is coming to a close. Our good buddy Leroy never fails to keep us entertained and take away the thoughts of getting the SFW Blues as the night comes to a close and this year we took to the stage to party with Level Up Leroy, Adam, Area 51 and George Coppen.
Massive thanks to everyone at Sci-Fi Weekender that took the time to try and catch up with me and say, “hello”, and for all the amazing SFW Family hugs (I have to say they are the best you can get). All the artists, authors, acts, organisers and everyone else involved with bringing Sci-Fi Weekender to Great Yarmouth have yet again done an amazing job putting on the best festival of all things Sci-Fi.
I’m very honoured to be at the event every year and with Blazing Minds becoming 15 this year and Sci-Fi Weekender also becoming 15 next year, I can’t wait to bring you more from the event and I’ve been assured that there is going to be something very special to celebrate the 15th SFW.
So, hopefully, I will see some of you there that are reading this and have a chance to party with you.
All Photos © Karen Woodham
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
