Steel City Nerdcon celebrates the nerd in all of us (16 photos)

Steel City Nerdcon brought more than 40 vendors - not to mention a lot of people - to the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre Saturday. 

After going on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, many Saultites were thrilled to see the nerd-out extravaganza back in the Sault.  

“I’m super-excited to be here. I haven’t attended any sort of nerdy festival since the 2019 [Nerdcon],” said Kye Carter, who dressed up as Harley Quinn from the recent flick The Suicide Squad. “I’ve been looking forward to this for two years now. It’s really fun.”

Carter came to the 2021 edition of Nerdcon on a mission.

“Honestly, I came here specifically for Funko Pops, because I’m a huge Funko Pop collector. So that was my number-one reason for coming,” Carter said. 

And for many, it was their first Nerdcon ever. That was the case for Liam McGovern, who was dressed as Nicholas D. Wolfwood, the wandering priest from the Japanese manga series Trigun. McGovern is an unabashed fan of pop culture and comic characters, having set up an Instagram account dedicated to it. 

“I love it. This is the first convention that I’ve gone to in...well, ever. And I am not disappointed in the slightest,” said McGovern. “It’s really great stuff here.”

But one of the event’s organizers says it takes a lot of planning, day and night, in order to make Steel City Nerdcon come to life.  

“Everytime we do this we’re like, ‘we’re not doing it again.’ And then we get some rest, and we’re like, ‘okay, let’s do it again.’ It feels good to be back. It’s a lot of work,” said Michael Turcotte, who organizes Steel City Nerdcon alongside his wife, Bethany Davison. “With the COVID restrictions, honestly, it made it 10 times more difficult.”

“I hope we can do it again.”

Turcotte told SooToday that this year’s Nerdcon had probably one the best turnouts - if not the best turnout - since he and Davison launched the event back in 2018.

It’s the people, he says, that makes Steel City Nerdcon grow with each passing year. 

“I could plan the best show in the world, and it means nothing if people don’t support it,” he said.