Join us on our favorite convention adventure yet in the magical madness that was Fantasy-Con 2014! Elves, dragons, castles, goblins, and many a familiar dwarf or hobbit abound!
Category: FantasyCon
The first annual FantasyCon was an amazing weekend! Tens of thousands of fans from around the country and many actors from around the world traveled to beautiful Salt Lake City, Utah for an engagingly fun weekend of group panels, signings, photo ops and fireside chats. Here is a recap of some of the fun from several TheOneRing.net staff members who made the journey there.
Elijah Wood Hosts Kickoff Party
Starting off the week was an amazing dance night hosted by Frodo himself DJ ElWood!
Middle-earth Kick-Off!
To start FantasyCon with a celebrity blast, an all-star group of Tolkien guests took the stage including:
- Sean Astin (Samwise)
- Adam Brown (Ori)
- Billy Boyd (Pippin)
- Jed Brophy (Nori)
- John Callen (Óin)
- Peter Hambleton (Glóin)
- William Kircher (Bifur)
- Sylvester McCoy (Radagast)
- Graham McTavish (Dwalin)
- Mark Ordesky (Executive Producer LOTR)
- John Rhys-Davies (Gimli)
- Ken Stott (Balin)
- author Doug Adams (‘The Music of The Lord of the Rings’)
- artist Donato Giancola
- Badali Jewelry
- …and the staff of TheOneRing.net!
The Official Day 1 of FantasyCon was yesterday, July 3 and was filled with cosplay, LARPing, music and heraldry. A few awesome Middle-earth costumers visited our booth, and we even had a Dwarf in a Barrel. The barrel and the 4 Hobbits standee proved to be quite popular with those holding a camera, especially the children.
At 11am TheOneRing.net hosted their first panel at the convention with the Preview of The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies to an enthusiastic crowd. We fully expect that the trailer will be out by the time San Diego Comic Con rolls around in a few weeks, at which point our Preview panel will be dramatically updated.
Near the end of the day, the entirety of the Tolkien programming track was introduced on stage at the Middle-earth kickoff party. Artists, musicians, writers and TheOneRing.net staff on hand, plus an Avalanche of Dwarves, as John Rhys-Davies put it, a Wizard and a pair of Hobbits converged on the Main Ballroom stage to thunderous applause. Moments later, the entire room went silent, you could almost hear a pin drop, along with one wee Hobbit singing his heart out.
During the panel, numerous questions were asked of many Dwarves, Hobbits and a Wizard, but none were handled with quite so much originality as the one about the Dwarven prosthetics.
The day ended with the Red Party, a less bloody affair than the Red Wedding. Costumed denizens of Westeros and many other realms all danced the night away.
Posted in:
- Adam Brown
- Billy Boyd
- Conventions
- Events
- Fans
- FantasyCon
- Graham McTavish
- Hobbit Movie
- J.R.R. Tolkien
- Jed Brophy
- John Callen
- John Rhys-Davies
- Ken Stott
- LotR Movies
- Meet Ups
- Movie Fellowship of the Ring
- Movie Return of the King
- Movie The Two Towers
- Peter Hambleton
- Sean Astin
- Sylvester McCoy
- The Hobbit
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
- The Lord of the Rings
- Tolkien
- William Kircher
Musicologist Doug Adams is one of the many guests at this year’s FantasyCon in Salt Lake City. He had been scheduled to do a book signing on Saturday. Continue reading “Doug Adams FantasyCon book signing cancelled”
Wednesday in Salt Lake City was set up day for FantasyCon at the Salt Palace convention center. The FantasyCon people have been setting things up for days, and when you see some of the images of the sculptures, you will know why. They have gone all out to achieve a rocking cool Fantasy atmosphere, and with the various fan groups they’ve brought in, this promises to be a memorable weekend.
They then closed the hall today at 5pm to allow vendors to leave, or go eat and come back later for the charity event. At 7pm, the doors were opened again for numerous kids and their families who are beneficiaries of various charities, including Angel’s Hands Foundation, Shriners Hospitals for Children, Kids on the Move and Hope Kids. The children and their families were escorted in by a Piper past a processional of costumed warriors, fairies, stormtroopers, Hobbits and wizards. It made for a joyous entry as they were then lead to the main stage for the unveiling of Volos, the King of all the dragons attending the convention.
There are numerous costumed combat troops that will be demonstrating and teaching during the con, there is Dragon training going on, gaming, actors on panels, loads of cosplay everywhere, a Castle, numerous Dragons, giant Sentinels, and last but not least, a Rock Monster.
Panels begin in earnest tomorrow morning, with a Red Party capping off Thursday’s schedule. Friday opens with a Costume parade and Saturday ends the whole convention with a bang, and really really Big Bang of the Fireworks variety. Should you find yourself anywhere near Salt Lake City in the next couple of days, this may well be the funnest way you will find to spend your July 4 holiday. http://www.fantasycon.com
There is a lot of very important info. Please take note of the following:
-To join the TORn Cosplay group, simply email me at Garfeimao@TheOneRing.net to RSVP for everyone in your group, and then follow the below instructions on when and where to meet up. You can also stop by our booth #519/521 to sign up on Thursday.
-The parade is on July 4th at 8:30 am.
-Fantasycon goers get free parking at Gateway Center
– We will start staging at 7:30 am. Please arrive as close to 7:30 am as possible. I will be dressed as Bilbo after the spider fight (think cobwebs), so find me to check with me, and then I will check in for the whole group.
– If you are a walking group, you MUST be in the staging area by 8:10 am. *If you are not in the staging area by the allotted time, you will NOT be able to participate in the parade!
– You will only be allowed to drive up/down 50 North until 8:00 am.
– The staging will take place in the North-West corner of the parking lot on the corner of 50 North and 500 West.
- Check-in will be at the staging area. Please send ONE person to check-in as soon as every member of your group has arrived in the staging area. Again, find me in this staging area (look for other denizens of Middle-earth) and then I will check in for the group at 8am sharp. Our group number is 27 and there will be roller skaters behind us.
– Every member who participates in the parade will be receiving one (1) free one-day pass for Friday, July 4th. You will receive them at the parade check-in.
**When marching, please keep 2 – 3 car lengths between your group and the group in front of you. Please also be aware that we have many varying groups that will be on roller blades, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, etc. that many need additional space to do tricks or performances.
Please see the FantasyCon parade webpage for a map of the location.
If you are confused, or need any help the day of the parade, find someone in a FantasyCon volunteer t-shirt. They will be more than happy to provide any needed assistance.
The parade line-up is as follows:
Police Car
Royd Tolkien
Bagpipes & Drummers
1 – Volunteers w/ Banner & Dragons
2 – FantasyCon Performers
3 – LARPERS
4 – Utah Film Commissioner
5 – Fear Factory
6 – Umbrella Corp.
7 – Mandalorians
8 – Jabba da Hutt
9 – Rouge Base Rebel Legion
10 – Ghostbuster
12 – Castle of Chaos
13 – Midvale Main Street Theatre
14 – NUAD
15 – VIP Limo & Voodoo Productions
16 – Fairy Cosplayers
17 – Loop & Hook
18 – Rose Court Guild
19 – Winter Faire
20 – Atomic Hype
21 – Rocky Mountain Muggles
22 – DrumBus
23 – MASK Costume
24 – Out of Shadows Theater Group & Salty Horror Film Fest/Convention/Productions
26 – Nihon Matsuri
27 – LOTR Cosplay Group
28 – Red Rockettes Roller Derby
29 – United Furry Fandom
30 – Steampunk Cosplay Group
31 – Nightmare on 13th
33 – ****Cosplay Chaos Group All solo cosplayers or small groups
****All solo or small group cosplayers, that are not listed above, will be in the “Cosplay Chaos Group”, which will be ending the parade.*** *