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A young man learns lightsaber techniques from costumed Jedis at the inaugural Rail City Fan Fest held last year.
ST. ALBANS — The Rail City Fan Fest is returning to St. Albans for its second year this June at twice its original size.
“[The event] doubled in size, physically and with vendors,” organizer Luke Hungerford said. “If you like watching TV, or ever watched a movie, or read a book, there’s bound to be something you’re going to like. Cons always have something for everybody.”
Scheduled for June 24-25, Hungerford said the event currently is slated to host roughly 60 vendors at the Collins Perley Sports Complex, bringing two days of pop culture-flavored entertainment to St. Albans.
The place for fans
Hungerford, who nightlifes as the St. Albans Spidey, began organizing the Rail City Fan Fest last year in an effort to celebrate pop culture in Franklin County following the pandemic-induced collapse of the Vermont Comic Con.
There weren’t many large-scale events where cosplayers and pop culture fans could go to celebrate the work and efforts of creators in the field, he said and such opportunities often provide interested young people unique insights into how artists, authors and voice actors shape their favorite stories.
Hungerford said he figured he could bring that kind of experience to St. Albans. After holding the first successful event last year, it was worth returning with an expanded event to keep the momentum going.
Eventually, Hungerford said he’d like to be able to bring in more popular actors and artists to the event. As it is now, the comic-con is small on big names compared to the major metropolitan conventions, but his dream is to grow Rail City Fan Fest into one of the major pop culture events for the region.
“There’s just been a hole in this community, for the people who enjoy these sorts of things,” Hungerford said. “This is something I would have wanted as a teenager.”
Event highlights
Now in his second year, Hungerford has been able to secure some strong local sponsorships towards his goal, including a sizable donation from Plato’s Closet.
The support has helped bring in over 60 vendors and create a full schedule of events to keep people entertained throughout the day during the second annual event.
Alongside the large range of vendors – including artists, comic book sellers, cosplay groups, clothing businesses and droid builders – Hungerford said he wanted to bring more interactive experiences for people to get involved and play alongside fellow attendees.
One Up Games, for example, will be hosting video game tournaments throughout the day for people to compete in popular titles like Fortnite, or Mario Kart. Winners are eligible for prizes at the end of the event.
Hungerford said he also has helped bring in game masters to host short-form Dungeons & Dragons campaigns that only take an hour to complete.
The goal, he said, is to introduce people to something new – an idea, or property – that they may not even know is out there. With so much media available online, there are often giant segments of pop culture that mainstream audiences have little experience with, and they’re likely to find something that’s new and exciting due to the wide range of what’s expected to be available.
And for long-time fans, they’ll find plenty of the more standard comic-con entertainment.
Both Saturday and Sunday will feature cosplay contests, trivia matches and demonstrations, and comic fans will be able to find many of their favorite costumed crusaders walking around the showroom floor.
Hungerford said attendees should keep a lookout for a few highlights this year as well.
The Sheldon robot builder, Joshua Nye, is scheduled to return for a demonstration of his fighting robots developed at NYE Mechworks. Hungerford said Nye is able to get into his robots and control them to fight, and there will be live demonstrations on both afternoons.
Hungerford also recommended people stop by the Anime Zing Radio booth to meet veteran voice actress Kristi Rothrock, who has worked on shows such as Dr. Stone, Black Clover, Classroom of the Elite and Karakai Jouzo no Takagi-san.
“She’ll be setting up next to [the host] and podcasting all weekend long,” Hungerford said.
Rail City Fan Fest tickets cost $12 for a one-day pass and $20 for a two-day pass. Kids 12 and under are free.
More information on the event, including where to by tickets, can be found at www.railcityfanfest.com.
