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ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Anime, comics, gaming and fandom collide with holiday shopping and creative expression at this weekend’s Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay.
The fan convention with a winter twist takes place Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Coliseum in St. Petersburg.
“I’ve always felt like Tampa Bay needed a holiday fan convention so geeks and nerds can celebrate the holiday in their way,” organizer Dewey Caruthers told Patch. “We’re a little bit different, so it gives us a way to celebrate our way. It’s a big nerd gathering for the winter holiday.”
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Now in its second year, cosplay is the centerpiece of this event but “with a holiday twist,” he said. “You’ll see people cosplaying Christmas characters, for sure, those winter holiday characters, but you’ll also see people taking regular characters and adding a holiday spin to it. Like, you know the character Wolverine, instead of having claws, you have candy canes.”
With more than 100 vendors, holiday shoppers will find lots of unique finds.
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“You can go to a mall or you can go on Amazon and get what everybody else is getting or come to Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay and get something really unusual,” Caruthers said. “Our vendors are excited. They’ve created all sorts of creative things for this, as one might imagine.”
Items for sale include holiday art, homemade jewelry, “unusual Pops and figures,” 3D-printed characters, video games, and more, he added. “It’s the best holiday shopping in the universe for geeks and nerds.”
The event also features voice actors, professional cosplayers, five contests, an idol group, an internationally known body painter and other activities.
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