Cosplay comp a festival of culture

BENDIGO’S own celebration of popular culture, Bendi-Con, is on next week and among the stalls and fanservice will be a spectacular cosplay competition.

Kara Harris has been running cosplay at the convention since it began and will be one of the five judges of this year’s contest.

“Cosplay helps bring out confidence which is amazing. So, if you’re an introvert normally, you feel ‘I’m being someone else right now so I’m feeling confident’,” she said.

Harris has been cosplaying for 15 years, and despite saying she wasn’t any good at working with textiles in the beginning, and loves to play Loki, Doctor Strange, and Wednesday Addams.

“I’ve always been into pop culture. I decided one day to try and make a costume for myself,” Ms Harris said.

“I hated textiles in high school, it was terrible, so I am self-taught. The great thing about cosplay is there’s always something to learn.

“I’m definitely more confident than when I first started, like I look back and go ‘oh that’s how I changed that’.”

Costumes will be judged on how they have been put together, detail, creativity, and also how the person embraces the character they are playing.

The judges have backgrounds in working with materials or embroidery, including someone who builds Star Wars droids as a hobby.

Cosplayer Captain Patch-It, whose real name is a secret, is one of the new addition to this year’s Bendi-Con, and Ms Harris said the organising team is thrilled to have him onboard.

He is well known across the Australian cosplay scene and has a toolkit he takes to conventions to fix up last-minute wardrobe malfunctions.

Ms Harris said there are always lots of superheroes represented in the competition, but entrants are welcome any and all kinds of dress-up.

Ms Harris said last year’s event saw a young competitor come as Death from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books, and in the past, others have made animal costumes.

“Someone did an animal head that they made themselves, and they had paws that went with it,” she said.

“So that’s one of the types of cosplays that people do, and we hadn’t seen that before.”

The competition will be open to adults with a parade for kids, and all cosplayers will receive a token for their participation.

Bendi-Con will be at Red Energy Arena on Sunday 27 August with tickets available via Ticketek.