Youth event marks fun-filled return

ONE of Ballarat’s premier youth-run events celebrating all things pop culture is set to return in-person for the first time in four years.

PopCon, run annually by City of Ballarat Youth Services’ FReeZA committee Sonika, is set to return this Saturday 16 September with a plethora of pop culture events and activities.

City of Ballarat mayor Cr Des Hudson said the free event is about showcasing all things pop culture in Ballarat.

“PopCon in Ballarat is all about celebrating and engaging with pop culture. Everything from comics to movies, TV to videogames, anime and internet hits can be found at the event,” he said.

“PopCon initially came from our Sonika volunteers, who were really into things like Comic-Con, Supanova, and similar events that are run in places like Melbourne.

“They wanted to bring something similar to Ballarat, so PopCon aims to create this type of experience.”

More than 30 market stalls featuring local traders and fan clubs as well as authors and artists will be part of the event.

A cosplay competition will run throughout the day with prize categories for general participation, and kids aged up to 12 years old, as well as judge’s and audience’s choices.

A live action roleplay demonstration and workshop will be run by members of Swordcraft Ballarat while sessions on comics care and creating will be held by Heroes HQ staff and writer Shaun Sunday respectively.

PopCon debuted in 2017 and was developed as an event management initiative from Sonika, which is a volunteer group of young people aged 12 to 25 years old.

This year’s iteration is being delivered by a core team of 12 youth members.

Previously run out of the Eastwood Leisure Complex and Trades Hall before that, the event’s physical return is changing locations to Barkly Square.

“This year, we’ve got two separate game spaces for videogames and tabletop games,” Cr Hudson said.

“We want to make this as engaging and fun as we can with lots of free things to do.”

PopCon will run from 10am to 5pm at Barkly Square.