If your favourite part of the year is dressing up for Halloween then perhaps you might be interested in cosplay. Cosplay is a shortened word for costume play and is like a game of pretend, or some call it performance art.
You may have seen cosplayers at the opening night of a Lord of the Rings or Star Wars movie at your local cinema. These are the fans dressed up as Darth Vader or Princess Leia. This growing trend isn’t just for supernerds anymore; cosplay is gaining mainstream attraction.
Cosplay for many is an expression of something you really love. Brantford cosplayers Maria (age 11) and Alyssa Skitch (age 10) got involved by going to comic conventions with their father Jason Skitch and started five years ago. “We went to our first con and we saw all these people wearing costumes,” said Alyssa. “My parents used to help me build my costumes but now I do it myself,” added Maria.
These adventurous youth have started their own Facebook page called “B-Town Cosplayers.” Pretend is an important part of cosplay and Maria offered a word of advice, “If you are dressing up as a character that has a famous catch phrase you should try as hard as you can to memorize it.”
For others it’s about capturing the magic of childhood. Professional cosplayer Sabrina Ranellucci says “the best part of cosplay is when a little kid sees you and gets excited to meet you/the superhero or whatever you’re being. There’s pretty much nothing better.”
To find local events to connect with other cosplayers you can join the Ontario Cosplay Community on Facebook.
