Awesome Con’s Return Marks A Decade of Celebrity Sightings + Cosplay Competitions

Awesome Con proudly presents a star-studded guest lineup and exciting program of events for their 10th convention.

In 2013, Awesome Con hosted its first event in an 18,000 square-foot salon in the Walter E. Convention Center with just over 7,000 attendees. After 10 years, Awesome Con has certainly grown. The 10th convention will run from June 16-18, this time taking up the majority of the 811,960 square feet convention center with an estimated turnout of 50,000 fans.

The show runners plan on paying homage to their 10th anniversary by hosting a panel with the founder Ben Penrod and providing free merchandise for the guests, including Awesome Con stickers, tattoos and badge ribbons. Guests can also grab free sponsored items from Crunchyroll, V1Tech, Kernel Seasons and more. In celebration of Father’s Day, Awesome Con is gifting a free Dad Bot T-shirt to the first 500 dads to arrive on Sunday.

Celebrity guests are staple at any comic convention, and over the past 10 years, Awesome Con has gone from just a couple celebrity guests to a jam-packed guest lineup with various big names from across the entertainment industry. “Lord of the Rings” stars Elijah Wood (Frodo), Andy Serkis (Gollum) and Sean Astin (Sam) are all scheduled to appear Saturday for photo-ops, autographs and a cast spotlight. Other notable guests include Danny Trejo, Billie Piper and Colleen Clinkenbeard.

Another popular event is the cosplay competition. Every year, attendees can dress up as their favorite characters and compete to see whose costume is the best. Judges leave no stone unturned when assessing a cosplay; they look closely at the stitching, sequins and other little details that go into the costume. Last year, Jara Barrett won best in show for their cosplay of Fearne from “Critical Role.” They will be sitting in as a guest judge in this year’s competition.

To recognize Pride Month, Awesome Con has partnered with Geeks Out and Metro Weekly to create Pride Alley. Pride Alley is a dedicated section of the Artist Alley highlighting queer creators and fans. There will be a variety of activities taking place over the course of three days at Pride Alley, including drag bingo, an LGBTQ+ meetup and a positive representation roundtable.

Over the course of a decade, Awesome Con has cemented itself as a consistent source of entertainment for those engaged in pop culture. The success is well deserved. Ben Penrod has provided a space for the people of Washington D.C. to gather and celebrate their favorite things in entertainment. If you’re an avid member of a fandom or just enjoy an occasional Marvel movie, Awesome Con is for you.

If you’re interested in attending this year’s Awesome Con, you can purchase tickets here. If attending, be sure to download the new Awesome Con app to customize and prioritize Awesome Con events/activities to your personal interest while also staying up to date in case of schedule changes.

Awesome Con: 801 Mt. Vernon Pl. NW, DC; awesome-con.com // @awesomecons

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Max Abbatiello