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Suited up
Cosplayers to bring colour, creativity to Northern FanCon
HANDOUT PHOTO BY ALLIE GARDNER
By day, he works at a grocery store and is an apprentice tattoo artist. But in his spare time, Bronson Lee Ramos of Williams Lake creates some of the most celebrated costumes in Canada's cosplay community. He will be wearing his most famous creation, Gipsy Danger, at Northern FanCon.
Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca
Costume play - or cosplay - may look like a high school theme party out of place or Halloween out of time, but it has grown into an art form and an industry all of its own.
Cosplay is now a vital and featured personality of most comicons and fan conventions.
It’s a way for fans to express their creative feelings for the characters they love, demonstrate some talents of their own, and spread the love for a part of the entertainment industry - sets, makeup, costumes, etc. - that no story can live without.
And who doesn’t love a good story? For Bronson Lee Ramos, cosplay is a chance to get right inside some of his favourite stories. He has gone to great lengths to build himself a likeness of Gipsy Danger from the film Pacific Rim. With much cutting, gluing and sewing of EVA foam, Ramos fashioned the detailed costume that has now made him famous in Canadian cosplay circles, right from his apartment in Williams Lake.
Ramos will be wearing his Gipsy Danger persona in Prince George this weekend at Northern FanCon.
When The Mary Sue - a sci-fi, gaming, and comic fan website -held an online cosplay contest, it was Ramos’ Gipsy garb that won.
His prize was vaulting out of the
Sometimes in towns
like Williams Lake
and Prince George
you don't know if
there is another
cosplayer in town
until you go to an
event like FanCon...
— Bronson Lee Ramos
competition and onto the team of judges at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo.
You don’t get to be a judge at that level unless you’re a cosplay star. Even at the inaugural Northern FanCon, the cosplay judges are world renowned.
One is leather armour specialist Aaron Harrison. He currently builds armor and gear for the hit TV show Arrow for such characters as The Arrow, Deathstroke, Ras A Ghul, Arsenal and others.
Harrison has been in the props/ costume industry for more than 25 years, and has built for Stargate, Chronicles of Riddick, and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, to name only a few.
Another is cosplay superstar Lindsay Elyse who is a professional costumer and gamer with an international convention schedule, her own line of merchandise and a number of company sponsorships.
And Ramos, who couldn’t believe a cosplay event was happening so close to his hometown. “Sometimes in towns like Wil-
liams Lake and Prince George you don’t know if there is another cosplayer in town until you go to an event like FanCon, so it should be revealing for the whole scene there,” he said. “I’m pretty much all on my own, with just a few close friends who do this. We have a few people who do big costume events like Halloween or fundraiser events. We build our own separate costumes but together. You look less insane when you have someone else beside you doing the same thing, giving you ideas, talking you through things.” Ramos is still adjusting to life as a celebrity cosplay judge after being the aspiring costume designer and uber-fan such a short time ago (and that part of his personality is still alive and well). Instead of maintaining a character, as he mingles in costume through convention crowds, he is now a representative of the event.
“When I’m judging I’m looking for confidence in what they did, people who maybe bit off more than they could chew but still went ahead and did it anyways,” he said. “And just because I’m more of a specialist in making armour doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate fabric costumes. I actually really admire those skills because I have a whole different set of interests, so it’s like magic to me.” Presentation and workmanship are the two main features of a cosplay costume. Northern FanCon has categories for kids and adults, experienced and novice. Register for judging at www.fancon.ca.
May Days Parade returns on Saturday
Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff
It’s May. That’s the only month of the year with May Days, and that’s the only way to get a May Days Parade to happen.
For the past 85 years the local Elks Lodge No. 122 has been out in front of the annual downtown parade. All except one year. Due to organizational snags and some business distraction, the parade never took a step in 2014.
That won’t be repeated.
Nancie Krushelnicki, a lodge representative and chair of the organizational committee, said the event would march forward again on Saturday.
“We had an increased number of volunteers interested in helping,” she said. “As this is Prince George’s hundredth anniversary and our lodge being in P.G. for about 90 of those years, this was an opportunity we wanted to take
to show we are proud of our city and proud to serve our community.”
Organizers found the appetite in the public was healthy, again, too, after the parade’s brief hiatus.
“We did some significant lobbying, this past year, we made a concentrated effort to get out there and discuss this with businesses and other organizations. People were really responsive. They wanted to join and show their dedication to our 100-year-old city on its birthday.”
Mayor Lyn Hall will be the honorary parade marshal. The procession will be led by the Community Pipe Band with contributions from the Elks Lodge itself, its partner group the Royal Purple, plus businesses like Can-for, Rona and Excel Transportation, and agencies like the Native Friendship Centre, Elder Citizens
Recreation Association and the band Country Cousins, Prince George Corrections Service honour guard, some old time fiddlers, some vintage motorcycles, an equestrian drill team, classic cars, popular plush mascots, and much more.
The parade begins at 11 a.m.
- rain or shine - from the Four Seasons Pool, through Canada Games Plaza, up Seventh Avenue to Victoria Street, northwards down Victoria to Third Avenue, then to George Street, and finally ending at city hall.
It is not too late to enter a float or book a spot in the train of mobile features. Anyone interested in joining the parade can register by contacting Dawn Crawford by email (dawn.crawford@shaw.ca) or phone 250-277-2524.
All others, just line the streets and enjoy the 86th year of the Prince George May Days Parade.
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